MARIETTA, Ohio – Marietta College women's basketball team opened the conference schedule with a 79-63 victory over Otterbein University on Tuesday (Nov. 29) evening.  The win puts the Pioneers at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.  Otterbein falls to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in the OAC.

"Our first OAC game couldn't have started much worse," said Head Coach Kole Vivian. "Otterbein did a great job of knocking down perimeter shots in the first quarter and got out in transition to put pressure on us. Then we made a change in how we defended and we made life tough for them to put points on the board. Our rebounding was the huge difference tonight. We used our depth and we were relentless on the glass."

Otterbein got off to a hot start in the first quarter as Katie McCrary scored 10 of the first Cardinal 13 points.  In fact, Otterbein went perfect from three-point range connecting on all six of their shots from the perimeter.  Olivia Gribble's (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) step back three with 4:31 remaining in the first period cut the Cardinal lead to two, but Otterbein would go on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 19-11.  Camille Cummins (MIddlefield, Ohio/Cardinal) and Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) came off the bench and connected on a couple of buckets, but two Alexis Amabile's treys gave Otterbein a 28-17 lead to close out the quarter.
 
The second quarter did not start well for the Pioneers as Otterbein extended the lead to 14 from Kathleen DeCarlo's layup and bonus free throw.  Marietta calmed down and started to chip away at the lead with a Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) three pointer and a layup from Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South).  At the midway mark of the quarter, Paige Tolson's (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) three-pointer and layup from Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) cut the lead to four.  Otterbein responded with five points from Olivia Majors to extend the lead to 38-31 with just under four minutes to play in the half and would take a 40-35 lead into intermission.  

After McCrary hit twice from the outside for the Cardinals and extending the lead to eight, Marietta would go on an 8-0 run to tie it at 45.  Jumpers from Gribble, Hefner, and Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) tied up the game for the first time since early in the first quarter.  Marietta stepped up the defensive pressure and caused the Cardinals to make some costly turnovers.  Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) stole a pass and promptly fed Tolson for a driving layup to give the Pioneers a 49-48 lead.  The Pioneers continued to play well and kept the lead at 53-51 to end the third period.  

The fourth quarter was pivotal as Marietta rushed on a 10-0 run to begin the quarter, fueled by five points from Hahn.  Marietta would shoot 9 of 18 from the field in the quarter, including 3 of 4 from downtown.  Otterbein could only muster some back and forth scoring for the remainder of the frame.  Gribble put the contest on ice with two late threes and Marietta would cruise to a 79-63 win.     

The Pioneers were led by Gribble, with her late-in-the-game shooting giving her 16 points.  Hahn finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.  Hefner scored 13 points and led the team with nine rebounds.  Tolson delivered a spark off the bench with 10 points and Cummins contributed six hard fought rebounds to go with her four points.  

Marietta will return to the court Saturday (Dec. 3) when they travel to battle conference foe Ohio Northern, with tip off scheduled for 4 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.