MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College will face off against #15/#17 Johns Hopkins University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament Friday (Mar. 1) on the campus of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Tip-off is set for 5:45 p.m.
The Pioneers (21-6 overall) are making their third straight, and fourth overall, appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Marietta fell to Ohio Northern in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, but received one of 21 at-large bids into the Big Dance.
Johns Hopkins (24-3) is ranked 15th in the coach's poll and 17th in the D3hoops.com national poll. The Blue Jays were the top seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament and lost to Gettysburg, 64-55, in the championship game. All three of JHU's losses this season are to nationally-ranked teams; two to #21 Gettysburg and one to #1 New York University.
Following the Marietta/Johns Hopkins game on Friday, #4 Christopher Newport (26-1) will play the University of Mount Saint Vincent (22-6) at 8:15 p.m. Friday's two winners will play at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday in the second round.
Marietta is led by a trio of All-OAC players. Junior guard
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) earned first team honors after leading the Pioneers in scoring averaging 12.2 points per game. She ranked ninth in the OAC in scoring and led the conference in points per 40 minutes. Tolson came off the bench in all 27 games this season and averaged 20.7 minutes per game. Marietta's top free throw shooter, Tolson ranks third in the OAC converting 83.0% of her free throws.
Senior guard
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) was named second team All-OAC. She has started all 27 games this winter and averages 11.5 points per game. Gribble leads the Pioneers in field goals (114) and three-pointers (56). Her 56 triples rank second in the OAC.
Senior forward
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) earned honorable mention all-conference honors after averaging 9.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Levering ranks fourth in the OAC in three-point shooting (39.5%), sixth in blocks (24), seventh in field goal percentage (45.1%), and eighth in total rebounds (166).
Johns Hopkins had five players selected to the All-Centennial Conference team. Junior forward Greta Miller earned first team recognition after averaging 10.1 points and a team-best 8.7 rebounds per night. In addition to leading the Blue Jays in rebounding, Miller is also tops with 93 assists.
Junior forward Michaela O'Neil and sophomore guard Elisabeth Peebles were named to the second team. O'Neil averages 11.8 points and 4.7 rebounds. Peebles leads the team averaging 12.7 points. She is tops on the team with 54 three-pointers.
Junior center Jadyn Murray and sophomore guard Macie Feldman were both honorable mention all-conference. Murray averages 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while Feldman averages 9.8 points and 8.1 boards per outing. Feldman leads the Blue Jays with 44 steals and is second with 87 assists.
Fans can watch a live video stream of the game 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.
