MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College used a big third quarter to erase a six-point halftime deficit and went on to defeat Case Western Reserve University 69-56 Tuesday (Nov. 22) evening women's basketball action. The Pioneers improve to 3-1 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 5-2 overall.
"I am really proud of our team for this win going into break," said Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian. "Case is a very talented team, and well coached. We were able to string some stops together in the 2nd half after they had their way with us in the first half. And we finally made our free throws like a mature team. To have five people in double figures, I'd think teams have to start changing how they try to defend us."
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) put the first points up for the Pioneers, but Marietta quickly found themselves down 5-2 after a jumper from Isabella Mills and a three from Emily Plachta. Marietta responded with seven straight points off of an
Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) jumper, a
Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) layup, and a
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) three-pointer to put them back to a 9-5 lead. The two teams would battle closely for the next several minutes, but the Pioneers extended the lead to six off of
Kelly Levering's (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) three-pointer. Case Western Reserve finished the quarter on a 6-1 run to trim the margin to 21-20 at the end of the first period.
Case Western Reserve began the second quarter with a shot from downtown from Mills, tying the game at 23. Plachta's triple on the next possession gave the Spartans their first lead since early in the first quarter. After four subsequent lead changes, the Spartans took advantage of some poor Pioneers shooting late in the quarter. Lucy Vanderbeck hit from outside to give Case Western Reserve a 35-31 lead. The Pioneer cold snap left them 2-for-15 from the field in the quarter and the Spartans took a 39-33 lead into halftime.
Marietta stayed within range in the third quarter, but did not improve tremendously shooting from the field. The defensive effort began to dramatically improve, though.
Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) stole a pass and found
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) on the perimeter for a three, trimming the lead to one. Tolson again hit from three-point range with :28 seconds left to give the Pioneers a one-point lead. The Spartans answered with a bucket from Kayla Characklis in the final seconds of the period giving Case Western Reserve a 49-48 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Marietta kept the Spartans off the board for the first six minute of the final stanza, while taking care of business from the free throw line. The Pioneers went on a 10-0 run during that span, with six points from the charity stripe. Case Western Reserve would stay close as they began to draw some inopportune fouls on the Pioneers, chipping the lead down to four. Case Western Reserve failed to close the gap and was forced to keep fouling Marietta. Marietta's clutch free-throw shooting put the game out of reach and the Pioneers would be victorious 69-56.
Schill was 7-for-10 from the free throw line, all in the fourth quarter, and finished with a team-high 16 points. Hahn added a double-double (14 points and 13 rebounds). Three other Pioneers were in double figures with Wilson scoring 12, and Hefner and Tolson chipping in 10 points apiece.
Mills led all scorers with 17 points. Vanderbeck added 10 points off the bench.
Marietta opens Ohio Athletic Conference play next Tuesday (Nov. 29) when Otterbein University visits Ban Johnson Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 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.
