MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's basketball team held on to defeat Otterbein University 71-69 Wednesday (Dec. 4) evening in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both schools. The Pioneers improve to 6-1 overall, while the Cardinals fall to 3-3 on the season.
Otterbein had a chance for the win with a last second three-pointer. Chelsea Reed got a defensive rebound off a Marietta miss with seven seconds left on the clock. The Cardinals pushed the ball up the floor and dished the ball to Madi Miller for last shot. Miller's three-pointer bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The Cardinals controlled the first half of the game leading by as many as 13 points, 19-6, with 13:50 left in the period. Marietta battled back to knot the score, 28-28, with four minutes remaining. Otterbein outscored the Pioneers 10-5 down the stretch and led 33-28 at the break.
Senior
Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County) scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. Dixon hit a three-pointer with 14:26 left in the game to tie the score, 42-42. Otterbein was whistled for a foul away from the ball as Dixon's shot went in giving the ball right back to the Pioneers.
Four seconds later Dixon gave the Pioneers their first lead of the game 45-42, with her second straight three-ball. Marietta would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
The Pioneers went on an 11-2 run midway through the half to extend the lead to 12 points. Junior
Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier) hit a jumper in the paint and was fouled. She made the free throw giving Marietta a 60-48 advantage with 7:23 left in the game.
A pair of Dixon free throws with 3:41 remaining made it 66-56 in favor of the Pioneers. Otterbein used an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to two, 69-67, at the 1:12 mark. Each team hit a pair of free throws setting up Miller for the last shot.
Dixon equaled her career-high with the 26 points. Booth finished 1ith 13 points, while junior
Candice Alexander (Fairborn/Fairborn) had 11. Freshman
Mackenzie Kiser (Windham/Champion) grabbed nine boards and senior
Paige Lamb (Marietta/Marietta) pulled down eight.
Tabatha Piper led the Cardinals with 21 points. Reed finished with 12 points and seven assists. Amariah Huck chipped in with 11 points and nine boards.
Marietta outrebounded the Cardinals, 45-37. The Pioneers grabbed 19 offensive rebounds resulting in 21 second chance points. Otterbein turned the ball over 10 times, while the Pioneers committed 11.
Marietta shot 34.3% (23-of-67) from the floor, 33.3% (6-of-18) behind the arc and 82.6% (19-of-23) from the free throw line. Otterbein was 29-of-62 (46.8%) from the floor, 3-of-15 (20.0%) from three-point range and 8-of-13 (61.5%) at the line.
The Pioneers travel to Wilmington College on Saturday (Dec. 7) for a 3:00 p.m. tip. 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.
