Zachary Worstell
zdw001@marietta.edu
Women’s basketball at Marietta College has been special for the past few years. This season the team saw their third straight NCAA tournament appearance. Last season the team made it all the way to the program’s first ever Sweet 16, however this season they did not fare as well in the NCAA tournament.
The Pioneers lost five seniors from the previous season but added seven freshmen to fresh up the lineup. Furthermore, the sophomores stepped up this season especially Guard Sophia Murray. Murray averaged 0.9 steals a game and 0.3 blocks a game.
Junior Guard Paige Tolson averaged the most points per game this season averaging 12.1. Her highlight was in a game on the road against Wilmington where she scored 29 points. Senior Forward Kelly Levering led the team in rebounds with 176 and Senior Guard Hannah Schill led the team in steals with 44 and assists with 68. Overall, all of the juniors and seniors put up great numbers and were dominate this season, especially at home.
The Pioneers were 12-3 at home, 9-3 on the road, and 15-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. They finished the regular season with a 20-5 record, one of the best records in recent memory.
This regular season dominance translated to the OAC tournament as they clinched a first-round bye. In the semifinals they faced Capital University whom they beat by an impressive 91-43. The Pios moved on to the OAC finals where over 1000 pioneers gathered in the Ban Johnson Arena to watch them faceoff against Ohio Northern University. The game was close through the first three periods as the Pios were up 46-43. However, Marietta had a string of cold shooting in the final period which helped Ohio Northern comeback and win 63-55.
Fortunately, the Pioneers were still able to punch their way into the NCAA Tournament. They’d head to Newport, Virginia to face John Hopkins University in the first round. This was the first time these two programs have ever met on the court. John Hopkins took the lead early in the first period, and despite Marietta playing strong for the rest of the game, they were not able to catch up and lost 75-66. John Hopkins would end up being eliminated in the third round by the University of Scranton.
The Pioneers will be back next season, and while they have a lot of talented seniors leaving, the current freshmen as well as next year’s recruits and coaching staff look strong and promising. Hopefully the women’s basketball team can come back and replicate their success next season as they continue to improve every year.
