TIFFIN, Ohio — Marietta College's monster fourth quarter gave them a decisive 60-39 win over Heidelberg University Saturday (Jan. 14) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. The Pioneers now sport an overall record of 11-4 and are 6-2 in the OAC. Heidelberg drops to 2-13 on the season and 0-8 in conference games.
"We didn't start off the game well," Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian said. "But we found our footing in the second half against their zone. We started to move the ball better and cut. Really happy to be leaving Tiffin with a win."
Both teams got off to slow starts as the Pioneers and Student Princes only put up four points apiece in the first few minutes.
Devin Hefner's (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) layup and a jumper from
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) put the Pioneers on the board, but the Marietta shooting got cold and, as a result, Heidelberg jetted out to an 8-4 lead.
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) hit from three-point range at the 3:30 mark to cut the lead to one and, a minute later,
Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) converted a layup to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game.
Makenzie Wilson's (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) layup with under a minute left put the lead at 11-8 and the Pioneer took that score into the second period.
Early in the second period, the Pioneers extended the lead to seven after
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) stole a Student Prince pass, sent a pass to
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) who found Gribble open on the perimeter for the trey. Heidelberg fought back to cut the deficit to one after Hallie Rogers nailed a jumper. Marietta answered quickly, though, as Gribble hit from three-point range, putting the lead back at four. The Pioneers finished the half strong as Hefner hit a three-pointer and Wilson put in two more layups and Marietta took a 28-22 lead into halftime.
Early in the third period, the Pioneers got layups from Hefner and
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) to get the lead back to eight and Gribble's triple at the 4:37 mark put the score at 35-26. The Pioneers continued to extend the lead as
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) and Hahn scored and Marietta had their biggest lead of the game, 14 points. Heidelberg cut the deficit to nine as they hit the final two shots of the period and, after three periods of play, the score was 40-31 in favor of the Pioneers.
The fourth quarter began with a Pioneer offensive explosion as they outscored the Student Princes 11-2 in the first three minutes. Hahn hit a quick layup and then the Pioneers buried three consecutive three-pointers, one from Hefner and two from Gribble. Later in the quarter, Schill converted a layup pushing the margin to 22 points, 54-32, with 5:42 left in the game. Heidelberg could not bridge the gap and the Pioneers would cruise to a 60-39 victory.
Gribble led Marietta with 17 points, shooting 5-10 from three-point range. Hefner finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Hahn ended with eight points and led the Pioneers with nine rebounds.
Heidelberg's Hallie Rogers led all scorers with 18 points.
Marietta will next travel to Columbus, Ohio Wednesday (Jan. 18) as they will tangle with Capital University. The contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollegeand @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
