MARIETTA, Oho – The Marietta College women's basketball team won a 97-85 double overtime thriller against Wilmington College inside Ban Johnson Arena, Saturday (Feb. 9) on Senior Day. With the win the Pioneers improve to 15-8 overall and 10-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and with the loss the Quakers fall to 11-12 overall and 6-10 in OAC action.
Head Coach
Kole Vivian said, "I am really happy for our four seniors. Wilmington threw a lot at us today, and our seniors kept us together and each made huge plays for us in double OT to get the senior day win."
The first quarter opened as a back and forth battle before an 8-0 run propelled the Pioneers to a 12-5 edge at the 3:29 mark of the first quarter. The run was highlighted by a
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) jump shot. The jumper gave Burkhardt 1,000 career points and she is the 12th player in Marietta College women's basketball program history to join the 1,000 point club. The Pioneers continued to pull away behind an old fashioned three point play from
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales), and entered the second quarter ahead, 20-8.
The second quarter opened as the teams swapped baskets, and a Burkhardt bucket provided a 24-13 edge just over four minutes into the quarter, which forced a Quakers timeout. Out of the timeout, Marietta maintained its momentum and held a 35-21 advantage at the intermission.
The Pioneers maintained their double digit margin through the opening five minutes of the third quarter. The Marietta offense was led by
Alexis Enochs (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) and
Marlo Taylor (Kimbolton, Ohio/Cambridge), and the Pioneers led, 41-28 with five minutes to play in the third. Marietta was able to continue its strong play behind points from
Bailee Brooks (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls) and Burkhardt, and entered the fourth quarter ahead, 47-34.
A pair of quick baskets from Wilmington cut the Pioneers lead to 47-38 a minute into the fourth quarter. The Quakers continued to chip away at the Marietta lead and cut the advantage to 51-45, which forced a Pioneers timeout, with six minutes to play in the game. Wilmington hit a three pointer with 36 seconds to play in the game and cut the Marietta lead to 60-59. Enochs put the Pioneers up 64-61 with a pair of fouls shot. The Quakers answered with a three pointer with 6.4 seconds remaining to tie the game. The fourth quarter ended with the teams deadlocked and 64 points apiece.
Marietta opened the first overtime period with back to back baskets from
Shay Lett (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) and Taylor to give them a 69-64 edge and forced a Wilmington timeout. The Quakers battled back and cut the Pioneers edge to 75-74 with 13.1 seconds to play, which forced a Marietta timeout. After Burkhardt knocked down a pair of foul shots to put the Pioneers up three, Wilmington once again hit a three with two seconds to play in the first overtime, and the teams entered the second overtime tied at 77 points apiece.
The Pioneers scored the opening nine points of the second overtime to lead, 86-77 with just under three minutes to play in the game. The run was led by Lett as she scored six of the nine points. Marietta closed out the game at the foul line and won, 97-85.
The Pioneers were led by Enochs as she notched her third double-double on the season as she scored 23 points and had a career high 20 rebounds in the game. Burkhardt added a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Lett added 19 points, and had a career high in assist with eight. Brooks tied a career high in points with 18, and had a career high in rebounds with eight.
Marietta will return to the hardwood Wednesday (Feb. 13) when they travel to battle Muskingum University, with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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.
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