BLOOMINGTON, Illinois — The Marietta College women's basketball team looks to continue its historic season as the Pioneers open NCAA Division III Tournament play against No. 14 ranked and host Illinois Wesleyan University on Friday (Mar. 2) at 8 p.m. (Eastern).
The Pioneers are making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, while the Titans are in the Big dance for the 11th time. Illinois Wesleyan won the National Championship in 2012.
Marietta (24-4 overall) was the No. 2 seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament and went 3-0 knocking off top-seeded Ohio Northern in the championship game to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan (24-3 overall) won the Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin regular season and tournament titles earning the CCIW's automatic bid.
No. 7 Trine University (24-3 overall) will play No. 12 DePauw University (25-2 overall) in the other first round game. The two winners will meet at 8 p.m. (Eastern) on Saturday in the second round.
Marietta is under the direction of second-year head coach
Kole Vivian. Vivian, who spent four years as Marietta's top assistant before taking the reigns, is 40-15 at the helm of the Pioneer program. He is one win shy of tying his predecessor, Stacia Shrider, for second place on the women's basketball all-time wins list.
Vivian's probable starting lineup will include 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 14.5 points per game. She also leads the team in total field goals (141) and free throw shooting (78.4%). Herd averages 13.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per night and leads the OAC with 122 assists and 95 steals. Both Borich and Herd were named first team All-OAC.
Burkhardt, an honorable mention All-OAC pick, averages 9.6 points and a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game. She ranks second in the OAC in steals behind Herd with 72. Lett averages 9.5 points and3.3 boards per outing. The OAC Tournament MVP leads the team with 46 three-pointers. Andersen averages 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
First off the bench for Marietta will be sophomore
Alexis Enochs (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye). Enochs averages 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per outing and leads the OAC in field goal percentage converting 59.2% of her shots. She is also tops on the team with 27 blocked shots.
Adding depth off the bench will be senior
Marra Woods (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro), junior
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) and freshmen
Laura Pullins (Long Bottom, Ohio/Reedsville Eastern), Marlo taylor and
Bailee Brooks (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls).
Illinois Wesleyan is led by head coach Mia Smith, in her 20th season. Smith is 364-158 with the Titans and has led IWU to eight NCAA Tournament appearances. She has been named the CCIW Coach of the Year seven times including the last two seasons.
The Titans' probable starters include senior guards Rebekah Ehresman and Molly McGraw, junior guard Nina Anderson, junior center Maddie Merritt and junior forward Ashley Schneider.
Ehresman was named the CCIW Player of the Year after averaging 10.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. She led the CCIW with 132 assists and 87 steals. McGraw, a first team All-CCIW pick, leads the Titans in scoring averaging 13.5 points.
Merritt, second team All-CCIW, averages 12.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Anderson averages 8.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. Schneider, also a second team All-CCIW pick, averages 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.
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.
