NEW CONCORD, Ohio – Muskingum University defeated Marietta College by the score of 81-71 Wednesday (Dec. 18) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. The Pioneers fall to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the OAC. The Muskies improve to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in league play.
Marietta had the hot hand in the first half shooting nearly 63% from the floor. The Pioneers led by eight, 38-30, at halftime. A poor performance at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes kept Marietta from breaking the game open. MC was 5-of-11 (45.5%) at the line in the first half.
The Pioneers scored the first bucket of the second half to push the margin to 10 points, 40-30. Muskingum responded with a 19-5 run to go on top 49-45 with 12:52 left in the game.
Muskingum gradually increased its lead and a pair of free throws from Jasmine Goings with 2:55 left on the clock gave the Muskies their biggest lead of the game, 70-58. Marietta managed to cut the lead to eight points but couldn't get any closer.
Senior
Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County) led three Pioneers in double figures. Dixon hit four three-pointers and finished with 16 points. Juniors
Candice Alexander (Fairborn/Fairborn) and
Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier) scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Freshman
Mackenzie Kiser (Windham/Champion) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Booth pulled down seven boards.
Muskingum's Taylor Maurer led all scorers with 19 points. Alexys Settles chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds, while Angela Darnley had 10 points and six boards.
The Muskies outrebounded Marietta by one, 34-33. The Pioneers turned the ball over 17 times, while Muskingum committed 16 turnovers.
For the game, Marietta shot 48.2% (27-of-56) from the floor, 36.8% (7-of-19) from three-point range and 55.6% (10-of-18) at the free throw line. Muskingum was 27-of-57 (47.4%) from the floor, 9-of-16 (56.3%) behind the arc and 18-of-27 (66.7%) at the line.
Marietta is off until after Christmas. The Pioneers host Hiram College in a non-conference game on Monday (Dec. 30) at 7:30 p.m. Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
