ADA, Ohio — Round one goes to the Polar Bears. No. 14 Ohio Northern University defeated No. 18 Marietta College, 72-57, Saturday (Jan. 6) in a battle for first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Ohio Northern sits alone atop the OAC with a 6-0 record. The Polar Bears are 12-1 overall. The loss was Marietta's first and drops the Pioneers to 12-1 on the season and 5-1 in the OAC.

Amisha Herd led three Pioneers in double figures with 17 points. She dished out three assists and had four steals. Shay Lett had 13 points and four assists, while Brooke Borich chipped in with 10 points. Corrie Burkhardt and Alexis Enochs each had seven rebounds for the Pioneers.

Amy Bullimore notched a double-double to lead the Polar Bears. She finished with 23 points and 11 boards. Jenna Dirksen chipped in with 12 points and Lindsey Black added 11 points.

Marietta led briefly early in the first quarter. A jumper from Burkhardt gave the Pioneers a three-point advantage, 8-5, at the 5:53 mark. ONU scored the next five points and never trailed again.

The Polar Bears held a six-point lead, 19-13, at the end of the first quarter. Ohio Northern pushed the lead into double figures midway through the second quarter and held a 32-22 lead at halftime.

Herd hit a three-pointer with 4:42 left in the game to cut the deficit to nine, 57-48. But ONU answered with six straight points for a 15 points lead, 63-48. It's biggest of the afternoon.

For the game, Marietta shot 35.5% (22-of-62) from the floor, 21.4% (6-of-28) from three-point range and 77.8% (7-of-9) at the free throw line. The Polar Bears were 23-of-49 (46.9%) from the floor, 4-of-10 (40.0%) behind the arc and 22-of-27 (81.5%) at the line.

Ohio Northern won the battle of the boards, 38-30. The Pioneers turned the ball over 13 times, while ONU committed 17 turnovers.

Marietta returns home to host the University of Mount Union on Wednesday (Jan. 10). Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Ban Johnson Arena.