MARIETTA, Ohio  – Junior forward #Aleisha Guiler (Lower Salem/Monroe Central)# scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Marietta College women's basketball team defeated Baldwin-Wallace College, 70-64, in an Ohio Athletic Conference match-up Saturday (December 3) afternoon.  The win ended a 33-game losing streak against the Yellow Jackets that dated back to December 19, 1994. [Box Score]

With the win, Marietta improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the OAC. The Pioneers are off their best start since the 1989-90 season when they opened the campaign with an 8-1 record. Also, Marietta is 2-0 in the OAC for the first time since the 1990-91 season.

In addition to Guiler, freshman forward #Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier)# had 13 points and junior point guard #Kristeva Rowe# had 10.  For B-W, now 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC, junior forward Jessica Carpenter and sophomore forward Jessica Lairson each had 14 points and freshman guard Audrey Smolik had 10.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the 18:16 mark when Carpenter scored on a drive to the basket. B-W then gained a 4-1 lead before the Pioneers tied it, 4-4, at 16:18 when Rowe made a three-pointer.

After the game was tied at 6-6 and 8-8, Marietta took its first lead at 10-8 with 13:02 when sophomore guard #Paige Lamb (Marietta/Marietta)# made a layup. Then, following six lead changes, B-W junior point guard Rachel Rossman made one of two foul shots at 8:38 to tie it again at 16-16.

The Pioneers regained the lead, 18-16, at the 8:13 mark when Guiler made a pair of foul shots. Undaunted, B-W tied it at 18-18 on a Carpenter layup and then took a 21-18 lead when she made a three-pointer at 7:08. MC then outscored B-W 5-2 to tie it again, 23-23, when Guiler hit a jumper with 5:59 left in the half.

After the game was tied, 25-25, B-W scored four of the next five points and took a 29-26 lead at the 2:47 mark when Lairson made a jumper.  Two seconds before halftime, the Pioneers fouled Carpenter who made both one-and-one foul shots to give the Yellow Jackets a 33-29 advantage at the intermission.

Lairson started the second half by making a pair of foul shots at 19:36 to give the Yellow Jackets their largest lead at 35-29. Guiler continued to keep the Pioneers in the game when she nailed a triple at 18:15 to cut the lead to three points, 35-32. But baskets by Lairson at 17:52 and junior forward Nancy Coulter at 17:12 pushed the lead to seven points at 39-32.

Marietta then scored the next six points to cut the lead to 39-38 at 14:23 when Lamb made a layup. B-W freshman point guard Shari Mangas ended the drought when she made one of two foul shots for a 40-38 lead at 14:04. But the Pioneers came right back to tie it at 40-40 and 42-42 and took the lead, 45-42, at 12:36 when sophomore guard #Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County)# canned a trey.

Marietta built its largest lead at 50-42 when Rowe scored on a layup with 9:56 remaining, was fouled and completed the traditional three-point play by making the subsequent free throw.  Smolik ended the latest drought when she canned a jumper at 9:44 to close to 50-44.

A Lamb foul shot at 8:34 put the lead back to seven points, 51-44, and a Booth rebound and basket advanced the lead to nine with 7:56 left.  B-W would get as close as 55-51 with 6:14 left when sophomore forward Lexi Rohrbach made two foul shots. Marietta's biggest lead was 62-51 with 5:04 left when Guiler made a pair of foul shots.

B-W then outscored the Pioneers 9-1 to close to 63-60 with 1:49 left when Carpenter made a driving layup. Following a Rowe free throw at 1:23 to make the score 64-60, B-W senior forward Catherine Spisak made one of two foul shots at 1:00 to close the lead back to three at 64-61.

The game then became a free throw shooting contest.  Rowe gave the Pioneers a five-point lead, 66-61, when she made two foul shots with 58 seconds left. With 49 seconds left, Carpenter made one of two foul shots to close the gap to four, 66-62.

With 46 seconds left, Dixon made a pair to push the lead back to six, 68-62. B-W quickly responded as Spisak scored on a layup with 34 seconds left to make it 68-64. Pioneer freshman guard #Jessica Brogan (Cincinnati/Anderson)# iced the game with 10 seconds remaining when she made one of two foul shots to make the score 69-64.

The Pioneers are off until next Saturday, December 10th when they host Otterbein in a 3 p.m. contest.