Marietta women upset Heidelberg 61-56
Meiring earns first Ohio Athletic Conference victory

Feb. 9, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team withstood a late rally to defeat Heidelberg College, 61-56, Saturday (Feb. 9) afternoon at Fenton Court. The win snapped a 33-game Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) slide and marked the first win for the Lady Pioneers in conference since Feb. 11, 2006. Marietta improves to 4-16 overall and 1-13 in the OAC, while Heidelberg drops to 9-12 overall and 4-10 in the OAC. The victory was also the first for first-year Head Coach Jill Meiring.

Senior guard Justine Pagenhardt (Oakland, Md./Southern Garrett) bounced back from two sub-par games to lead the all scorers with 24 points. Junior Amanda Carraher (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) scored 15 points on her way to breaking the single-season school record for three-point field goals and three-point field goal attempts. She has now connected on 56-of-160 (.350) from behind the arc this season. Senior Natalie Jackson (Circleville) and sophomore Jamie Beckett (Wooster/Triway) both collected 10 rebounds in the win.

Amanda Campbell led the Student Princes with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Brittany Skolnicki scored 12 points and also collected 10 rebounds in the loss.

Both teams struggled from the field in the first half, only scoring a combined 40 points in the first 20 minutes. Pagenhardt paced Marietta early, scoring 12 of the Pioneers’ 23 points in the first half. Marietta’s defense proved to be a problem for Heidelberg, as the Student Princes shot only 7-of-32 (.219) from the field in the first half. Pagenhardt’s offense combined with Marietta’s tough defense led to a 23-17 lead at intermission.

Marietta jumped out quickly in the second half, stretching its lead to as much as 17, 39-22, with 12:32 remaining in the game. Heidelberg started its comeback from there, as its full-court press caused the Pioneers to make costly turnovers. Those turnovers slowly turned into Heidelberg points, as the Student Princes would cut the lead down to two, 58-56, with less than a minute remaining. With a 59-56 lead and less than 30 seconds left, Marietta was able to stop the final attempts by the Student Princes. A pair of free throws from junior Nikki Driscoll (Bellaire) sealed the win, 61-56.

Marietta finished 20-of-52 (.385) from the field, 5-of-17 (.294) from behind the arc and 16-of-22 (.727) from the free throw line. Heidelberg went 24-of-75 (.320) from the field, 4-of-19 (.211) from three and 4-of-6 (.667) from the free throw line. Heidelberg held the edge in rebounds 50-37 and in turnovers committing 21 to Marietta's 23.

Marietta will host Muskingum College Wednesday (Feb.13) night at Fenton Court. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Amanda Carraher set a single-season record for three-point field goals and three-points field goal attempts on Saturday

Box Score