HOLLAND, Michigan — Marietta College's history making women's basketball season came to an end Saturday (Mar. 5) evening as No. 2 ranked Hope College handled the Pioneers for an 85-66 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Pioneers finish the season with a 22-6 record. Hope improves to 28-1 and will advance to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA tournament. .
"I thought we played really hard tonight," said Head Coach Kole Vivian. "Hope is an incredibly talented team. It is very difficult to play a team that good, especially when they were hitting from outside like that."
Pioneer fans will say goodbye to four seniors off this squad. Kate Liston (Little Hocking, Ohio/Warren Local), Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South), Jill Congrove (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm), and Kelsie Warnock (Proctorville, Ohio/Fairland) suited up for a final time for the Pioneers
The game started at a slow pace as the two teams took two full minutes to break the ice. After a Hope 3-pointer, Olivia Gribble's (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) midrange jumper at the 6:12 mark got Marietta on the board. Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) came off the bench and promptly scored four quick points in transition to give the Pioneers a three-point lead. Hope's Meg Morehouse tied the game at 10 with 2:30 left in the quarter.
Marietta did turn the ball over seven times, but the Flying Dutch could not capitalize. Both teams also experienced some shooting woes in the first stanza, Marietta shooting 35% as compared to Hope's 24% clip.
The Pioneers got into some early foul trouble in the 2nd quarter, aiding Hope to go on a 6-0 run to begin the quarter. The home team also began to warm up from three-point range. Kate Majerus hit twice from downtown in less than a minute to give Hope their biggest lead of the game at that point, 10 points, at the 5:23 mark. Ella McKinney's trey in the closing seconds gave Hope a 12-point lead at the half.
The 3rd quarter began with Hope widening the lead. Majerus hit twice more from 3-pt range to put the difference at 15. The Pioneers did not give up though as Gribble hit three times from downtown. The Pioneers also started to aggressively take it to the hoop midway through the quarter, and repeatedly went to the foul line. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, Majerus finished the quarter as she began it by nailing a three on the left wing.
The Flying Dutch shot 43% from three-point range on 12 of 28 shooting. Majerus' six treys and 20 points were both career highs for her.
Hefner closed out her Pioneer career with a 20-point performance. She also dished out six assists and led the team with six rebounds. Congrove went six of eight from the line and finished with 11 points. Gribble had another nice shooting performance and ended with 12 points
McKinney scored 17 points for Hope off the bench and Olivia Voskuil ended with 11 points and led Hope with nine rebounds.
"There are not going to be too many teams that can beat Hope College, said Coach Vivian. "You got to have a tight knit team that can guard and shut the three-point line. Easier said than done. But I am super proud of how my team fought and my seniors led tonight."
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.
