Marietta College women thrilled to keep playing
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The Marietta College women's basketball team went from thinking its season was over to planning a trip to Holland, Mich., where it will face off against Wittenberg at 5 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the Division III NCAA Tournament.
The Pioneers, who earned the third seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, were ousted from conference play in the first round by Mount Union last Tuesday. At that point, head coach Kole Vivian began looking toward next season.
"When we lost to Mount Union we thought our season was over," said Vivian, whose Pioneers carry a 21-5 record. "We're in the locker room, and tears are coming from the players and the coaches. I thought it would be the last time we were all going to be together until the banquet. Then on Sunday, D3hoops.com did a projection and had us getting in (the tournament), so I thought maybe we do have a chance here because they're usually not that far off on things. I texted our captains to see if they wanted to have a watch party. We decided to have one, and it was pretty cool to see our name up there."
The Pioneers left Marietta at 5 p.m. Wednesday with plans to stay overnight in Toledo before heading to Hope, the second-ranked team in the country. Hope plays host to La Roche following the Marietta-Wittenberg game.
Vivian thinks Marietta can match up well with Wittenberg (18-7), which comes in having won nine straight games after a 9-7 start to the season. The Tamika Jeter-coached Tigers knocked off 15th-ranked DePauw in the North Coast Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals before taking down Ohio Wesleyan in the championship game.
"They're a really good defensive team," Vivian said. "They've got some fifth-year players who have kind of put the team on their back. They won every game the whole month of February. The NCAC is a good basketball league. We'll have our hands full to match up with them."
Kristie Kalis leads Wittenberg with 13.7 points per game. Abigail Yunker adds 11.4, while Jade Simpson is just shy of double digits at 9.9.
"Our ball-screen defense has to be really good," Vivian said. "We've got to do a good job of getting the ball inside. They run four guards and one post player, where we go three guards and two posts. Hopefully we're going to be able to rebound. We've been a good rebounding team all year until Mount, when we got out-rebounded by 16. We've got to be able to handle their ball-screen offense, get the ball inside and rebound."
Marietta's Olivia Gribble and Erin Hahn are averaging 10.2 points per game apiece to lead the way. Hahn also is grabbing a team-best eight rebounds a game. Hannah Schill, Ally Grake and Makenzie Wilson round out the starting lineup, while Devin Hefner, Kelly Levering, Jill Congrove, Kate Liston, Camille Cummins and Hannah Kroft all play key roles off the bench.
"We're going to adjust some things with how we run our breaks," Vivian said. "We've put in a few new sets that we like, but for the most part we're keeping things the same."
While Vivian's attention is solely on Wittenberg, assistants Jenna Andersen and Marquia Turner have been busy scouting Hope and La Roche in the event the Pioneers advance to Saturday.
Marietta is playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 2018.
"We're excited to play," Vivian said. "It's pretty cool for our players. There's been a lot of emotion the last 10 days, thinking you're done to being in the tournament. We're ready for it.
"It sure beats sitting on the couch at home."
ALL-OAC
WESTERVILLE -- Marietta College placed three players on the 2021-22 All-Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Team announced Tuesday morning by the league office. Erin Hahn earned first team honors, Olivia Gribble was selected on the second team and Devin Hefner was Honorable mention.
Hahn, an honorable mention All-OAC selection last year, is making her second appearance on the all-conference team. She is tied for the team lead in scoring averaging 10.2 points per game. Hahn ranks third in the OAC and leads Marietta in rebounds averaging 8.0 per night.
Gribble is making her first appearance on the all-conference team. She is tied with Hahn for the team lead in scoring averaging 10.2 points per game. Gribble leads Marietta and ranks second in the OAC in three-point field goals with 58 and she is fifth in the league converting 37.2% of her shots from behind the arc.
Hefner, an honorable mention selection after the 2019-20 season, is making her second appearance on the all-conference team. She is averaging 7.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and leads the Pioneer backcourt in shooting with a 42.2% field goal percentage. Hefner is second on the team in assists (53) and steals (39).
Marietta is currently 21-5 on the season. The Pioneers earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history and will play Wittenberg University in Holland, Michigan on Friday at 5 p.m.