MARIETTA, Ohio — In a rematch of last year's Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Championship, Marietta College will host Ohio Northern University on Saturday (Feb. 24) in Ban Johnson Arena.
A year ago, Ohio Northern defeated the Pioneers, 60-45, in Ada. This year, Marietta has the home court advantage. The No. 2 seeded Pioneers are currently 21-5 on the season, while the Polar Bears, seeded fourth, are 17-9 overall.
The two teams split their season series with each team winning on the home floor. Ohio Northern beat the Pioneers, 48-41, in Ada, while Marietta posted an 84-62 win in ban Johnson Arena.
In addition to meeting in last year's tournament championship, Marietta topped Ohio Northern in the 2017-18 tournament championship to win the program's first-ever OAC title. The Pioneers beat ONU in Ada by the score of 85-68 to earn their first NCAA tournament appearance.
Ohio Northern earned a spot in Saturday's championship game by beating top-seeded Baldwin Wallace in Berea by the score of 57-43 in the semifinals. The Polar Bears downed John Carroll in the quarterfinals, 73-59.
Marietta got a bye in the quarterfinal round and demolished Capital in the semifinals, 91-43, earning the right to host the championship game for the first time in program history.
Marietta features a balanced attack that features eight players averaging over 5.0 points per game. Leading the way are guards
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) and
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin). Tolson averages 12.6 points per game and is one of the top free throw shooters in the OAC converting 84.3% of her free throws. In the semifinal, Tolson scored 19 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 22 points.
Gribble averages 11.4 points per game and leads the Pioneers with 54 three-pointers. In the semifinal, Gribble scored 18 points becoming the 14th member of Marietta's 1,000-point club. Senior forward
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) averages 9.0 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game. Senior guard
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) averages 7.6 points 3.5 rebounds per game and leads the team with 65 assists and 41 steals.
Leading the way for Ohio Northern is fifth-year senior guard Brynn Serbin. Serbin averages 14.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. She leads the Polar Bears in three-pointers (52), assists (99), and steals (74). Serbin scored a game-high 22 points in ONU's win at Baldwin Wallace in the semifinals.
Junior forward Brooke Allen averages 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per night while shooting 52.6% from the floor. Freshman forward Chloee Glenn averages 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game off the bench while shooting 63.0% from the floor.
Tip off in Ban Johnson Arena is set for 2:00 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets
HERE.
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 X and Instagram.
