NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Marietta College women's basketball team cruised past Muskingum University Wednesday (Feb. 13) with a 72-52 victory. With the win the Pioneers improve to 16-8 overall and 11-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and with the loss the Fighting Muskies fall to 1-23 overall and 0-17 in the OAC.
Head Coach
Kole Vivian said, "We didn't do a good job of defending in the first quarter. The middle two quarters we started working together a little more on defense, and it carried over to our offense."
The first quarter opened as the teams traded baskets, and the Pioneers led 15-14 with four minutes to play in the opening frame. In the opening six minutes the game was tied or the lead changed hands five times. The early Marietta offense came from five
Marlo Taylor (Kimbolton, Ohio/Cambridge) points. The teams continued to battle for the remainder of the quarter and the Pioneers trailed, 22-20 to enter the second quarter.
The second quarter got off to a slow start as each team scored a bucket through the first three minutes of play. The Marietta basket was scored by
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo), but the Pioneers trailed, 26-22. Marietta responded with an 8-0 run to take a 30-26 advantage. The run was highlighted by a pair of three pointers from
Shay Lett (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) and was capped by a layup from
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales). The Pioneers closed out the half and entered the intermission ahead, 35-30.
Marietta came out of the locker room ready to play, as they opened the third quarter on an 8-0 that saw their advantage grow to 43-30, which forced a Muskingum timeout. The run was led by three point shooting from Taylor and Lett, and was capped by an
Alexis Enochs (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) layup. The Pioneers run continued out of the timeout, as they went on a 10-2 run and saw their lead swell to 53-32 which forced a Muskies timeout. Marietta's run was sparked by Burkhardt as she poured in six of the 10 points. The Pioneers closed out the third quarter, and led 60-39 to enter the final frame.
The fourth quarter opened as a back and forth battle and Marietta led, 66-43 with five minutes to play in the game. The Pioneers maintained their lead behind strong play from
Jill Congrove (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm), and won 72-52.
The Pioneers were led by Lett as she scored 14 points, had three assists, and two blocks and two steals. Herd-Middlebrooks added 13 points, as she was a perfect 6-6 shooting from the field. Taylor pitched in with 12 points, and tied a team high with six rebounds.
Marietta will return to the court Saturday (Feb. 16th) when they travel to battle Heidelberg University, with tip scheduled for 3 p.m.
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
