TIFFIN, Ohio—Sophomore guard Kathleen Phillips (Sandusky/St. Mary's) poured in a game and career-high 36 points and scored the game-winning basket with three seconds on the clock to lead the Heidelberg University women's basketball team to an 80-79 victory over Marietta College today in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. Phillips shot just seven-of-17 from the field but 20-of-22 from the free throw line as the Berg snapped a 24-game losing streak against OAC opponents dating back to 2010. The win also snapped a two-game slide to Marietta.
After freshman guard Paige Ricketts' (Mineral City/Tusky Valley) shot was blocked and sent out-of-bounds with seven seconds left, an in-bound pass found an open Phillips who dribbled into the lane and pulled up for the game-winning jumper.
Phillips was one point shy of tying the school single-game record for points, held by Becky Putnam, Connie Sanford and Diedre Staffer. Sophomore guard Emily Giel (Burton/Burkshire) added 11 points, junior forward Molly Schriber (Sidney) scored nine markers, and junior guard Jordan Ickes (Wooster/Triway) and sophomore guard Megan Miller (Tiffin/Columbian) each tallied eight points and a team-high six rebounds for the Berg (4-9, 1-5 OAC).
Marietta (8-6, 3-4 OAC) was led by Heather Booth with 20 points on an eight-of-11 shooting performance and seven rebounds, Aleisha Guiler with 15 points and Sierra Sigman with 12 points.
In a see-saw battle, the game featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes.
Heidelberg opened the game with an 8-5 lead—its largest of the first half—when Giel canned a three-pointer at the 16:50 mark.
After trading leads at the 15:58 and 15:19 marks, Marietta regained the lead for most of the remainder of the opening period, taking a 12-10 advantage with 14:43 on the clock following a triple by Lamb.
The Pioneers led by as many as six points in the first half on two separate occasions, with the last coming at the 8:55 mark, leading 25-19.
The Berg chipped into the Marietta lead, cutting the deficit to one point on three occasions, including at 3:30 when Ickes made a lay-up to cut the score to 35-31. The Tri-Color finally took its first lead in nearly 15 minutes as Schriber grabbed an offensive rebound and canned a jumper with 1:59 to go, giving Heidelberg a 36-35 edge.
Marietta regained the lead on its next possession after Booth made a jumper in the paint and went into the intermission with a 39-38 lead after Rowe made a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left.
After the break, the Pioneers scored first, but the Berg came back to score four consecutive points and take its first lead of the second half at 42-41 when Ickes made a jumper.
Following four more ties, Heidelberg went on a 9-4 run that spanned 3:30 and extended its lead to 59-54—the largest lead for the Berg in the game—as sophomore forward Kyra Dorney (Fairborn/Greenon) made one of two free throws with 12:27 to play.
Marietta would tie the game three more times before taking a 75-74 lead at the 2:53 mark when Booth sank one of two free throws, and extended its lead to 79-74 with two free throws and a lay-up by Guiler with 2:53 to play.
The Berg closed to within 79-78 with one minute to play after Phillips made two free throws and Ricketts canned a jumper, setting up the game-winning possession.
Heidelberg was 35.4 percent (23-of-65) shooting, including five-of-20 from three-point range, but was 74.4 percent (29-of-39) from the charity stripe and had 20 second-chance looks at the basket.
The Pioneers shot 37.7 percent (27-of-73) from the field and 74.2 percent (23-of-31) from the foul line and held a 52-46 rebounding advantage.
The Berg continues its four-game home stand Wednesday, Jan. 11 with an OAC game against Otterbein University at 7:30 p.m.