Marietta women start strong but fall to Ohio Northern on the road 82-64
Three Lady Pioneers reach double figures in loss

Jan. 26, 2008
ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College women’s basketball team started off strong against Ohio Northern, the Ohio Athletic Conference’s number one team, in hopes of pulling off the upset. The Lady Polar Bears, however, battled back to keep a hold of first place in the Conference with an 82-64 victory at home. The loss drops Marietta’s record to 3-13 overall and 0-10 in the OAC. Ohio Northern improves to 14-3 overall and 9-1 in the OAC.

Sophomore Amanda Carraher (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) led Marietta with 15 points and four assists. Carraher finished 5-of-7 (.714) from behind the arc for the game. Justine Pagenhardt (Oakland, Md./Southern Garrett) and Nikki Driscoll (Bellaire) each scored 12 points. Jamie Beckett (Wooster/Triway) added nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Ohio Northern was led by Alisha Rinehart with 20 points and seven assists. Erin Brand scored 16 points. Jenny Markle scored 12 points, while Brittany Bogart scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Polar Bears.

Marietta came out of the gates hot, making its first five field goals to build an early 12-2 lead and cause Ohio Northern to burn an early time out. Carraher sparked Marietta early by making her first three attempts from behind the arc. She finished 4-of-5 from three-point range and had 12 points in the half. Ohio Northern chipped away at the lead for the rest half and even tied the score with one minute to go in the first stanza. Marietta managed to take a 43-42 lead into the locker at half.

Ohio Northern opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 50-43 lead. The Lady Pioneers shooting cooled off in the second half, only scoring 21 points in the final period. Ohio Northern would not give the lead back, as the Lady Polar Bears came back to hold on for the 82-64 win.

For the game, Marietta finished 20-of-45 (.444) from the field, 8-of-17 (.471) from three and 16-of-22 (.727) from the free throw line. Ohio Northern finished 31-of-57 (.544) from the field, 5-of-13 (.385) from three and 15-of-16 (.938) from the free throw line. Marietta held the edge in rebounding, 32-24, but lost the turnover battle, committing 20 to Ohio Northern’s eight.

Marietta returns home to Fenton Court Wednesday (Jan. 30) night, as Otterbein comes to town. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.