MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team led start to finish as the Pioneers defeated Denison University, 92-87, Saturday (Nov. 25) in the opening game of the 33rd annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot sponsored by BSN Sports. Marietta improves to 3-0 on the season, while Denison falls to 3-2 overall.
Senior
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) led five Pioneers in double figures with 17 points.
Amisha Herd (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Jenna Andersen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and
Shay Lett (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) had 11 points each, while
Alexis Enochs (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) chipped in with 10 points.
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) dominated the glass grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
Marietta jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and pushed the margin into double-digits, 14-4, midway through the first quarter. The Pioneers held an eight-point advantage, 24-16, at the end of the first quarter.
A three-pointer from
Laura Pullins (Long Bottom, Ohio/Reedsville Eastern) extended the Pioneer lead to 14 points, 39-25, with 4:24 left in the second quarter. Denison battled back and drained a trey as time ran out in the half to cut the deficit to seven, 44-37, at halftime.
The Big Red used the three-pointer to stay in the game. Denison hit 13 shots from downtown in the game and got within two points, 74-72, with 6:32 left in the game.
Lett hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Pioneers pushing the margin back to eight points, 80-72. Lett would end up sealing the victory with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
Alison Schafer and Addie Buzas each sank four three-pointers for the Big Red. Schafer scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Buzas finished with 14 points and five boards.
Lauren Longbrake came off the bench to lead all scorers with 20 points. She also had five rebounds. Lauren Hofer and Valesha Provine chipped in with 11 points each.
For the game, Marietta shot 50.7% (34-of-67) from the floor, 36.8% (7-of-19) from three-point range and 63.0% (17-of-27) at the line. Denison was 31-of-73 (42.5%) from the floor, 13-of-30 (43.3%) behind the arc and 12-of-15 (80.0%) at the line.
Marietta edged the Big Red on the boards, 43-41. The Pioneers turned the ball over 14 times, while Denison committed 11 turnovers.
Carnegie Mellon defeated Wittenberg, 73-53, in the other first round game. Carnegie Mellon will face Denison on Sunday (Nov. 26) at 1 p.m. Marietta and Wittenberg will finish the annual event with a 3 p.m. tip off.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
