MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College closed out the 33rd annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot sponsored by BSN Sports with an 88-76 win over Wittenberg University Sunday (Nov. 26) afternoon in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers improve to 4-0 on the season, while Wittenberg slips to 2-3 overall.
In the first game of the day, Carnegie Mellon defeated Denison, 76-57. Makayla Filiere scored 24 points for the Tartans and was joined on the all-tournament team by her teammate, Katharine Higgins. Valesha Province represented Denison on the all-tournament team after scoring a team-best 14 points.
Shay Lett (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) hit four three-pointers and scored a team-high 18 points for the Pioneers. She also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) was named the Lisa Wagner Most Valuable Player after scoring 17 points for the second straight game.
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to earn all-tournament honors.
Jenna Andersen (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds and freshman
Laura Pullins (Long Bottom, Ohio/Reedsville Eastern) added nine points.
Wittenberg struggled early on and the Pioneers quickly built a 12-2 lead. A Borich jumper extended the lead to 15 points, 20-5, seven minutes into the first quarter, but the Tigers scored the final seven points of the period and trailed 20-12 after the first quarter.
The Tigers continued to chip away at the Marietta lead and a bucket from Korynne Berner tied the game, 33-33, with 2:50 left in the half. The Pioneers responded with a layup from
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) and took a 41-38 advantage into halftime.
Marietta built another double-digit lead in the third quarter only to have the Tigers cut it back to two points, 56-54, with 1:34 left in the period. MC finished the third quarter with a 9-2 run and led 65-56 heading into the fourth.
Two minutes into the final stanza, Pullins hit a jumper to push the Pioneer lead back into double figures, 69-58. Wittenberg would get no closer. Marietta opened its biggest lead of the day, 85-63, when Lett converted a pair of free throws with 3:11 remaining.
Kristie Kalis poured in a game-high 24 points to lead Wittenberg and earn all-tournament honors. Sydney Mayle finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Hannah Weaver had 10 points and Delaney Williams dished out eight assists.
For the game, Marietta shot 39.7% (31-of-78) from the floor, 29.2% (7-of-24) from three-point range and 76.0% (19-of-25) from the free throw line. The Tigers were 23-of-67 (34.3%) from the floor, 8-of-25 (32.0%) behind the arc and 22-of-29 (75.9%) at the line.
The Pioneers outrebounded Wittenberg, 57-42. Marietta turned the ball over 15 times, while the Tigers finished with 17 turnovers.
Marietta opens Ohio Athletic Conference play this Wednesday (Nov. 29) when Otterbein University visits Ban Johnson Arena for a 7:30 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.
