ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team almost overcame a slow start, but due to a cold shooting third quarter, could not completely make up the difference.  The Pioneers would fall to the 18th-ranked Ohio Northern Polar Bears (23-4) 60-45 in the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship game.

Marietta (20-7) will have to wait and see if they receive an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. The complete tournament field will be announced on Monday (Feb. 27) at 2:30 p.m.

"We had a tough day on the backboards today, and ONU had everything to do with that," said Marietta Head Coach Kole Vivian.  " We just couldn't get those keys stops when we needed to and had a hard time scoring. Hopefully we get good news Monday with the NCAA selection show."

The Pioneers fell behind quickly as Ohio Northern raced off to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.  Olivia Gribble's (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) mid-range jumper at the 7:07 mark finally gave the Pioneers points on the board and Devin Hefner's (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) three pointer a minute later cut the lead to three.  Brooke Allen scored consecutive layups and Brynn Serbin canned an outside jumper to spark another run and the Polar Bears led 16-7 going into the second quarter.

The Pioneers found new life in quarter number two.  Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) scored twice from the paint and Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) nailed a jumper, putting Marietta behind by just three with seven minutes left in the half.  The two teams traded shots for the remainder of the period, but the Pioneers could not take the lead as every shot was answered by a Polar Bear score.  Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) scored a layup at the 5:15 mark, but was answered the three-pointer from Serbin.  Hefner hit a pair of the free throws with four minutes to cut the lead to one, but Allen answered with a jumper of her own a minute later.  Ohio Northern would take a 28-26 lead into intermission
 
The third quarter was tough on Marietta as they shot 3 of 17 from the field and the Polar Bears took advantage of the cold snap to extend the lead.  Marietta did score the first points of the quarter as Madison Cecil (Centerburg, Ohio/Highland) penetrated the paint and laid in a shot off the glass to tie the game at 28.  Ohio Northern went on an 11-2 run, which included a six-minute scoring drought for the Pioneers, to put the lead at 39-30.  The last Pioneers points of the quarter came from a three-pointer from Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty), but Marietta trailed 41-33 going into the final stanza.
 
The shooting improved into the fourth quarter for Marietta but they could not get any close than nine points and Ohio Northern went on the to claim the Ohio Athletic Conference championship, 60-45.
 
Kroft and Gribble led the Pioneers with nine points apiece.  Hefner and Hahn, who were both named to the OAC All-Tournament team, scored seven points each.  Hahn led the way with nine rebounds.  With that performance, Hahn set the single season rebound record with 242 for the season. The old record was 241 by Lisa Wagner during the 1990-91 season.

Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.