MARIETTA, Ohio — The No. 22 ranked Marietta College women's basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season to beat the University of Mount Union, 74-72, Wednesday (Jan. 10) evening in Ban Johnson Arena.
The Pioneers improve to 13-1 overall and remain in second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings with a 6-1 record. Ohio Northern is in first place at 7-0. Mount Union falls to 6-8 overall and 3-4 in the OAC.
In a game that featured 14 ties and 24 lead changes, Marietta relied on its battled-tested seniors
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) and Amish Herd to escape with the victory.
"Brooke and Amisha really led us to this win tonight," Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian said. "Brooke hit a lot of big shots down the stretch. She is showing why she is one of the top players in this league."
Borich scored a game-high 24 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 night at the free throw line. Herd finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
"Amisha played one of her best games this year for us. On top of being counted on to score, she also had to chase around one of the best scorers in the league in Rachel Tinkey," Vivian said. "We were able to hold her scoreless in the second half and Amisha's attitude towards defense was a big part of that."
Tinkey drained five three-pointers in the first half and went into the break with 16 points. She notched a double-double with 10 rebounds. Casey Morrissette led the Purple Raiders with 17 points.
Mount Union led by three points, 57-54, entering the fourth quarter. Marietta opened the final period with a 5-2 run to knot the game at 59-59 with 7:12 left on the clock.
Herd hit a pair of free throws at the 5:50 mark to give the Pioneers the lead for good, 64-63. Marietta opened its biggest lead of the night, 72-65, on two more free throws from Herd with just over three minutes left.
The Purple Raiders limited Marietta to just two points over the final 3:11. But two Mount Union turnovers and five Marietta offensive rebounds prevented the visitors from picking grabbing the upset.
For the game, Marietta shot 31.9% (22-of-69) from the floor, 28.6% (6-of-21) from three-point range and 80.0% (24-of-30) at the free throw line. The Purple Raiders were 24-of-63 (38.1%) from the floor, 9-of-30 (30.0%) behind the arc and 15-of-23 (65.2%) at the line.
Mount Union outrebounded the Pioneers, 52-42. Marietta committed 17 turnovers in the game, while the Purple Raiders turned the ball over 22 times.
Marietta plays at Heidelberg University on Saturday (Jan. 13). Tip off is set for 1 p.m.
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.
