MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team, despite getting off to a slow start, put together an impressive display of defense and rebounding and came away with a decisive Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Mount Union, 61-42, on Wednesday (Jan. 11) evening. Marietta improves to 10-4 on the season and 5-2 in the OAC. The Purple Raiders fall to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in conference games.
"We had a really good effort on the glass tonight", said Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian. "Mount Union has been one of the best rebounding teams in the conference for years, and for us to win the boards by that margin is a testament to our effort".
Both teams got off to a slow start as nearly three minutes went by with no points scored.
Devin Hefner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) knifed through the lane to score on a driving layup to give the Pioneers the edge. Mount Union finally matched the score with a bucket nearly two minutes later as Halle Ignacio nailed a jumper. Things finally started to pick offensively in the final three minutes of the quarter as the two teams traded three pointers,
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) hitting first for the Pioneers and Ali Hudik answering seconds later for the Purple Raiders.
Kelly Levering's (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) jumper gave the lead back to Marietta and
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) hit from midrange with the final seconds ticking off and the Pioneers led after one quarter of play, 9-5.
The second quarter started slow again for Marietta as Mount Union got it back to a two-point differential. Hefner's driving layup got Marietta back on track and they would go on a 10-point run, fueled by five points from
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) and a trey from
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty).
Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville), who had to be helped to the sideline after sustaining a first quarter injury, was able to return in the second period and hit a jump shot with two minutes remaining in the half.
Makenzie Wilson's (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) offensive rebound off of a missed free throw and subsequent put back gave the Pioneers their biggest lead at that point, 12 points. A pair of Hefner free throws finished the half and Marietta led 28-14 going into halftime.
Marietta took firm control of the contest in the third quarter, beginning the period on a 13-5 run. Gribble hit early from three-point range and Hefner, Schill, and
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) all scored on slashing layups.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) hit from beyond the arc to put the lead 22 points, 41-19, with less than five minutes in the quarter. The Purple Raider hit a couple of jumpers from the paint to close the quarter but still found themselves down 46-29 after three. The fourth quarter was more of the same as Mount Union could not bridge the gap and the Pioneers cruised to victory, 61-42.
Gribble finished with a game high 11 points and Hefner finished with 10 points. The Pioneers dominated on the glass, out rebounding Mount Union 51-31. Camille Cummings had a monster game leading the Pioneers with 10 rebounds. Wilson and Hahn each finished with six rebounds.
Marietta will hit the road this Saturday as they travel to battle Heidelberg in the hopes to keep the win streak alive and continue to improve in the OAC standings. Tipoff is scheduled for 4pm, following the men's game at 2pm.
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.
