MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team continues its quest for the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in the semifinals on Thursday (Feb. 21) against Ohio Northern University. Tip-off in Ban Johnson Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Tickets for the game will be available for purchase at the gate.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens (age 62 and up) and $3 for non-OAC students. OAC students are admitted free of charge with a valid school ID. The doors will open to the public at 6 p.m.
The No. 3 seeded Pioneers are currently 18-8 overall after defeating Mount Union, 74-55, in the first round. Ohio Northern, the No. 7 seed, is 14-12 overall after upsetting No. 2 seed Baldwin Wallace on the road in the first round by the score of 70-53.
Top-seeded John Carroll (20-6 overall) hosts No. 5 seed Otterbein (16-10 overall) in the other semifinal. The Blue Streaks downed No. 8 Wilmington, 76-70, in the first round, while Otterbein upset No. 4 Capital, 66-53.
Marietta and Ohio Northern split the regular season games with each winning on its home court. The Polar Bear downed Marietta, 64-50, on January 12th and the Pioneers returned the favor with a 63-59 win on February 2nd.
Pioneer third-year head coach
Kole Vivian will count on a pair of seniors to lead the way.
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) leads MC in both scoring and rebounds averaging 14.0 points and 7.7 boards per outing. Fellow classmate
Shay Lett (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) is close behind averaging 13.7 points and also has a team-best 65 three-pointers.
The rest of Marietta's probable starting lineup includes junior
Alexis Enochs (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) and sophomores
Marlo Taylor (Kimbolton, Ohio/Cambridge) and
Bailee Brooks (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls). Enochs averages 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds to go along with a team high 37 blocked shots. Taylor is averaging 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds, while Brooks averages 7.3 points and has dished out 80 assists at the point.
Off the bench, Marietta counts on senior
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) and sophomore
Luce Duritza (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area) inside. Herd-Middlebrooks averages 6.0 points and 5.3 boards. Duritza is averaging 2.7 points and 2.4 rebounds.
On the perimeter, sophomore
Cheyenne Barker (Belpre, Ohio/Belpre) and freshman
Jill Congrove (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) will see plenty of playing time. Barker averages 3.8 points, while Congrove is averaging 2.3 points per game.
The Polar Bears are under the direction of Michele Durand in her 18th season at the helm. Ohio Norther will be looking to avenge last year's loss on their home floor to Marietta in the championship game.
Ohio Northern's probable starting lineup is experience with three seniors and two juniors. Senior Jenna Dirksen leads the Polar Bears averaging 14.3 points per game. She is tied for the team lead with 46 three-pointers. Junior Emily Mescher averages 8.1 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds.
Seniors Alyssa Manley and Tori Wyss are currently averaging 5.6 and 5.3 points per night. Wyss pulls down 6.1 rebounds. Rounding out the starting lineup is junior Abby Weeks. Weeks averages 7.7 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Off the bench, ONU will look to sophomores Emily Brock and Sydney Ward and freshman Lexi Jacobs. Brock averages 6.7 points and has 46 three-pointers. Ward averages 2.9 points and 3.7 rebounds, while Jacobs averages 3.9 points.
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.
