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Pioneer women advance to OAC semifinals

Marietta College’s Brooke Borich shoots against a Capital player during a college basketball game Tuesday at Ban Johnson Arena. Photo courtesy of Nate Knobel.

Marietta College’s women’s basketball team will be getting another crack at Ohio Northern University.

The offensive-minded Pioneers (16-10) went on a scoring binge, defeating Capital University, 89-64, in an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at Ban Johnson Arena Tuesday night.

With the victory, MC will advance and face the undefeated and NCAA D3 fifth-ranked Polar Bears (25-0) in a OAC semifinal in Ada Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Last Saturday, the Pioneers dropped an 82-43 regular season decision at ONU.

“It didn’t go so well the last time we played them,” said Marietta junior sharpshooter Brooke Borich. “We have a little extra motivation. If we can play like we did in the second half against Capital tonight, we’ll be in the game with them, I think.”

Added MC head coach Kole Vivian, “We didn’t give them (Polar Bears) our best effort. They’re a really good team, but we didn’t do the things that we needed to do to be successful. We didn’t rebound, and we didn’t handle their zone very well. Our team is excited to to kind of go up there to compete and show them what we can do.”

Against Capital, MC was led by Borich’s game-high 21 points. Amisha Herd added 12 points, while Corrie Burkhardt and Shay Lett had 12 and 10, respectively. Burkhardt also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

MC’s Jordanna Rauch and Alexis Enochs each netted eight markers.

“We were just ready to go,” said Rauch, the only senior on the Pioneer roster. “We knew that Capital was tired and we wanted to get on them at the beginning.

“We also had a little motivation where we hadn’t beat them in a long time at home. So, that definitely was a motivating factor for us.”

The Crusaders (11-16) won at fifth-seeded Otterbein Monday, 65-64, in an opening-round game.

“In warm-ups, we talked about how tired Capital was,” Borich said. “They looked flat, because we watched them play Monday night (in Westerville). They don’t average a lot of points a game, but they hold their opponents to like in the 50s. For us to put up 80 against a team like that is pretty incredible.”

Cap non-starter Erin Risner scored 18 points and collected eight boards. Colleen Fondessy chipped in with 12 markers.

Sparked by Rauch’s five first-quarter points, Marietta staked itself to a 15-10 advantage. At the half, Herd and and Borich had six points apiece as the Pioneers led the Crusaders, 36-30.

The first half featured five lead changes and five ties.

“Corrie Burkhardt making that big three at the end of the first half got us a little momentum,” Vivian said.

After the break, MC never trailed as it outpointed Cap, 53-34, to win going away.

“In the third quarter, we had so many people come into the game, and everybody made a contribution,” Vivian said. “It was pretty special.”

Said Rauch, “Tonight (vs. Capital) was my last appearance on the (Ban Johnson Arena) court. But I’m OK with that, because we’re ready to go to ONU Thursday to play the number five team in the country.”

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