NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The Marietta College women's basketball team earned a stand out 65-49 road victory over Muskingum University Wednesday (Jan 4) evening. With the win the Pioneers improve to 8-4 overall and 3-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and with the loss the Fighting Muskies fall to 4-8 overall and 1-4 in OAC action.
"I am really happy to be leaving with our first OAC road win," said Head Coach
Kole Vivian. "We have a bunch of road games coming up this month and tonight was a great start. We really pounded on the glass and kept our turnovers low. That is a good recipe of success for us."
The game got a rapid start for the Pioneers. They rushed to a 5-0 lead as
Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) scored a layup and
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) busted a three-pointer in the first minute of the game. Gribble's midrange jumper at the 4:54 mark of the first quarter gave the Pioneers a ten-point lead. The Fighting Muskies got a trey from Lizzy Allen to briefly stop the momentum, but a pair of
Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) free throws with a minute remaining put the lead at 17-6 and that is what it would stay going into the second quarter.
The Pioneer good fortunes continued into the second stanza as Wilson converted a layup and Hahn hit a three ball, giving Marietta a 22-6 lead. Over the next few minutes, Muskingum outscored the Pioneers 12-4, cutting the lead to 10 with around six minutes left in the half. The two teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the half and Marietta went on to lead 37-23 at the intermission.
The Pioneers outscored Muskingum, 6-2 in a low scoring first four minutes of third quarter play and maintained a comfortable distance for the remainder of the third quarter. Gribble's triple as the final seconds clicked of the clock gave the Pioneers a 15-point to enter the final frame.
The Pioneers played a solid fourth quarter as they kept the Fighting Muskies to only nine fourth quarter points. The Pioneers got several opportunities to close the game out from the free throw line, going 4-8 in the quarter.
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking),
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), and Hahn all hit foul shots in the final minutes of the game and Marietta won, 65-49.
Gribble and Hahn led all scorers with 12 points apiece. Hahn also pulled down a game leading 12 rebounds. Tolson scored all eight of her points from the free throw line and collected seven rebounds.
Marietta will return to action Saturday (Jan 7) when they travel to take on host Wilmington College, with tip off scheduled for 4 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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
