MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College is hoping the third time's the charm as the Pioneers will face off against No. 24 ranked Ohio Northern University in the championship game of the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Saturday (Feb. 24) at 3 p.m. in Ada.
The winner earns the OAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The loser will have to wait and see if they receive an at-large bid into the tournament. The complete tournament field will be announced on Monday (Feb. 26) at 2:30 p.m.
The Polar Bears swept Marietta during the regular season. ONU downed the Pioneers 72-57 in Ada and escaped Ban Johnson Arena with a 93-85 double overtime win in the regular season finale.
Top-seeded Ohio Northern (23-4 overall) beat No. 8seed Wilmington, 76-60, in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Otterbein, 80-72, in the semifinals. No. 2 seed Marietta (23-4) defeated No. 7 John Carroll, 85-72, in the first round and No. 6 seed Capital, 81-69, in the semifinals.
Marietta, under the direction of second-year head coach
Kole Vivian, will start seniors
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye),
Amisha Herd (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) and
Jenna Andersen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), and juniors
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) and
Shay Lett (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe).
Borich is the Pioneers' leading scorer averaging 14.2 points per game. She also leads the team in total field goals (134), three-point field goals (41) and free throw shooting (77.9%). Herd averages 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per night and leads the OAC with 116 assists and 91 steals.
Burkardt averages 9.8 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds per game. She ranks second in the OAC behind Herd in steals with 69. Lett averages 9.1 points and 3.3 boards per outing. She is second on the team in three-pointers (40) and assists (63). Andersen averages 6.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Michele Durand is in her 17th season as the head coach at Ohio Northern. The Polar Bears will also start three seniors and two juniors in the championship game. Leading the way is senior center Amy Bullimore. Bullimore leads the OAC in scoring averaging 17.3 points per game. She is second in rebounds pulling down 9.9 per outing and her 49 blocked shots are tops in the conference.
Senior guards Lindsey Black and Courtney Cramer average 8.0 and 6.3 points per game, respectively. Black is second on the team in assists (61) and free throw shooting (80.2%), while Cramer is second on the squad with 31 three-pointers.
Junior Jenna Dirksen averages 9.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per night. She leads the Polar Bears in assists (77) and free throw shooting (81.5%). Classmate Tori Wyss rounds out the starters and averages 3.0 points per game.
Ohio Northern, winners of four straight OAC Regular Season titles, have won the tournament crown four times including the 2017 championship last winter. Marietta is making its first appearance in the tournament championship game.
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.
