MARIETTA, Ohio - The Marietta College women's basketball team will look to build upon the 2020-21 season that saw them finish in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament.  Kole Vivian will be at the helm for his sixth season this winter.

"I am really excited about this team.  A lot of the people who were in our rotation last year are now a year older and a year more mature," said Coach Vivian.  "We were in a lot of close games last year, but didn't have the experience yet to finish those games.  Hopefully we are able to build on that this year."

The Pioneers back court will be led by a pair All-OAC Honorable Mention guards in senior Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) and sophomore Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban).  Schill tied for the team lead in points per game with 11.3 points per game. The guard led the team in assists with 36, which was sixth in the OAC.  Hefner will be returning from a season long injury in 2021, but in 2019-20 Hefner averaged 11.2 points per night, and grabbed 4.2 rebounds.  She led the team in steals with 44 (1.6 spg).    

In addition to Schill, the backcourt will be helped by senior Jill Congrove (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm) and sophomore Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin).  Congrove started 11 of 12 games during the all-conference slate in the 2021 season.  Congrove poured in 6.5 points per game, and 1.3 boards a night.  Gribble was second on the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game, and grabbed 2.2 rebounds per game.  Sophomore Madison Cecil (Centerburg, Ohio/Highland) and freshmen Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) and Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) will add depth to the guard position for Marietta.  

"Our guard play should be deeper this year.  We returned a solid group of players who saw time last year.   We have multiple players who can play point guard or a wing spot for us, so we can be versatile in who we put out there.  We shot the ball really well last year and we need that to continue," added Coach Vivian.

The front court will be anchored by All-OAC Honorable Mention junior forward Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville).  Hahn averaged 9.8 points per game, and led the team in rebounds with 8.3 rebounds per game, which was third in the OAC.  Hahn tallied four double-doubles in the 12-game season.

Sophomore Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) and senior Kate Liston (Little Hocking, Ohio/Warren Local) will add to the front court.  As a freshman Wilson tallied 4.6 points per game, and pulled down 3.8 rebounds per night.  The forward led the team in steals with 12.  Liston provided a spark off the bench as she had 9.0 points per game.  Liston led the Pioneers in three-point shooting, she shot at a rate of 45.5 percent from behind the arc.  

Sophomore forward Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) will add depth to the front court.  Levering appeared in 12 games and added 6.7 points, and 4.3 rebounds in the 16 minutes of action per game.  

Coach Vivian said, "In the post, we bring back five of our top six players.  It is such an advantage to be deep in the post with different options.  Post players are essential for the level of offense that we run, so to have different players who can do different things for us is important."

Marietta will open the season on Wednesday (Nov. 10) inside Ban Johnson Arena with tip off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

"It is going to be great to have our supportive crowd back this year.  Before last year, no one in the OAC had a better home record in the conference than us over the previous few years, and we really missed those fans," concluded Coach Vivian.  "As a team, we can do some special things this year.  We are still fairly young with our top 10-12, and those players really need to keep improving.  I love our seniors.  They have been through the battles of the conference over their three years here and have been part of really big wins.  They need to keep leading us. "

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.