ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball dropped a heart breaker to Ohio Northern University on the road, 77-73, Saturday (Feb. 21) afternoon. The loss closed out the Pioneer regular season with a record of 12-13 overall and 7-9 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Polar Bears improves to 9-16 on the season and 8-8 in conference games.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 8-2 lead with the help of a three pointer from Emma Rasmussen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) and a driving layup from TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson).  Payten Bruns (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) got a tough bucket in the paint and Ella McMillen (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes) scored on a fast break layup to put the Pioneers up eight at the 4:08 mark.  The Polar Bears chipped away at the lead, getting it to one point in the final minute, but Marietta closed out with a three pointer and a layup from Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) to take a 21-15 lead into the second quarter.
 
The second quarter began with a Marietta 7-0 run, five point from Harlan, to put the Pioneer lead at 13.  Later in the period, Ava Heller (Thornville, Ohio/Sheridan) hit from behind the arc to further extend the lead.  The Polar Bears regrouped and went on a 15-2 run to close the gap to just two points.  The Pioneers got a pair of baskets from Amelia Uhrig (Chillicothe, Ohio/Unioto) to close out the period and took a slim 41-37 lead going into intermission.
 
The Pioneers got a layup from Carpenter to open the third period, but ONU answered with six straight point to tie the contest at 43.   Harlan, Heller, and Bruns provided big scores for Marietta to help push out the lead again and Heller's three pointer at the 4:02 mark push the lead back to double digits.  Lexie Brewer and Charlotte Pauling both hit some tough scores and chipped away at the lead, cutting the Marietta lead to 60-52 going into the final period.
 
Ohio Northern continued to hit big shots in the fourth period and erased a nine-point Marietta lead, tying it up at 70-70 with 2:19 remaining.  After ONU took the lead with a basket and bonus free throw, Marietta did the same as Carpenter scores and converted her bonus free throw,  ONU took the lead for good as Emerson Grey scored from the paint and Marietta could not answer.  ONU outscored Marietta in the final period, 25-13, to claim the tough OAC victory, 77-73.

Harlan led Marietta with 16 points.  Carpenter and Bruns both finished with 15 points apiece, with Bruns leading the team with six rebounds.  Heller hit four three-pointers on the way to 12 points. 
 
Brewer paced the Polar Bears with a team-high 16 points

Marietta clinched the No. 5 seed and will face Mount Union this Tuesday (Feb. 24) in an OAC quarterfinal matchup, with a scheduled 7 p.m. tip-off.

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.