MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College scored nine of the final 11 points of the game to beat Heidelberg University, 76-71, Saturday (Feb. 4) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. The Pioneers improve to 12-9 overall and 6-8 in the OAC. Heidelberg falls to 8-13 on the season and 5-9 in league play.
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) scored 12 second-half points and led Marietta with 16 points in the game.
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) finished with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Jenna Andersen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) added 12 points, while
Amisha Herd (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) chipped in with 11 points and seven assists.
Carli Patrick came off the bench to lead Heidelberg with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Mariah Pearson had 15 points, seven boards and five assists, while Marisa Liburdi added 11 points.
Both teams got off to a slow start as the Pioneers held a slim 11-7 lead after the first quarter. Marietta heated up in the second period shooting over 52% from the floor and took a 33-25 advantage into halftime.
Marietta pushed the margin to double digits midway through the third quarter. A jumper from Andersen with 4:52 remaining made it 43-33. The Student Princes chipped away at the Pioneer lead and scored the final six points of the period to get within three, 54-51.
Heidelberg continued its run with the first four points of the fourth quarter to take the lead, 55-54, for the first time. The teams traded small leads throughout the period with neither leading by more than four points until the final seconds.
Liburdi scored on a layup to put the Student Princes ahead by two, 69-67, with 2:52 left on the clock. Herd answered with a jumper on MC's next possession to even the score.
Heidelberg turned the ball over on its next possession and fouled Herd who hit one of two free throws putting Marietta on top, 70-69, for good. Following another Heidelberg turnover, Burkhardt scored a layup extending the lead to three points with a minute left in the game.
The Student Princes cut the deficit to one on a layup from Madelyn Crawford. Borich was fouled and made one of two freebies making it a two-point game, 73-71. A missed jumper and another turnover forced Heidelberg to foul in order to stop the clock.
With six seconds remaining, Burkhardt made the first free throw but missed the second.
Alexis Enochs (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) came away with a huge offensive rebound for the Pioneers. After a timeout, Borich was quickly fouled and made both free throws making it 76-71 with four ticks left on the clock and securing the MC victory.
For the game, Marietta shot 46.7% (28-of-60) from the floor, 29.4% (5-of-17) from three-point range and 62.5% (15-of-24) at the line. Heidelberg was 22-of-53 (41.5%) from the floor, 3-of-13 (23.1%) behind the arc and 24-of-30 (80.0%) at the line.
The Student Princes edged Marietta on the boards, 37-35. The Pioneers forced 15 Heidelberg turnovers, while committing 11.
Marietta travels to Columbus on Wednesday (Feb. 8) for a 7:30 p.m. game at Capital University. Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
