ADA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team had a cold afternoon shooting the ball and fell to host Ohio Northern University Saturday (Dec. 16) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference competition.  Marietta falls to 6-2 on the season and 3-1 in the OAC. Ohio Northern moves to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in conference games.

Ohio Northern jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game as Brooke Allen and Brynn Serbin converted easy layups.  Marietta got back into the game with a 9-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the contest, fueled by two consecutive jumpers from Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami).  After both teams went scoreless for the next three minutes, Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) broke the silence with a three-pointer to extend the lead to six, but the Pioneers did not connect for the rest of the quarter.  The Polar Bears ended on a seven-point run to lead 13-12 after one quarter of play.
 
Both teams had a tough time generating offense in the second period.  After Serbin connected on a layup to begin the period, the Polar Bears would not score again until the final minute of the half.  Marietta did not take advantage of the scoring drought until the 4:43 mark when Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) scored from inside the lane.  Tolson put the Pioneers back in the lead with another three-pointer a minute later and Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) followed with a pair of layups and a bonus free throw, giving Marietta a 22-15 lead with less than a minute.  Serbin nailed a three-pointer in the closing seconds to stop the Pioneer run, but Ohio Northern trailed 23-18, at halftime.
 
The third quarter proved pivotal as Marietta was held in check for much of the period.  The Pioneers were held scoreless for nearly the first five minutes, while the Polar Bears inched back into the game.  Abi Akamine nailed a jumper to give Ohio Northern their first points of the second half and Allen followed later with a layup to cut the lead to one, 23-22.  Kroft answered with a layup to push the lead back to three.  Consecutive treys from Noelle Ruane and Makenzie Suprano put the Polar Bears back into the lead, 28-26, with 3:37 left to play in the quarter.  Suprano hit again from outside and Serbin followed with a trey of her own to give Ohio Northern an eight-point lead.  Tolson tallied the final Pioneer points of the quarter with a three-pointer, but Polar Bears would tack on another layup from Allen and took a 36-329 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Both team would start cold again in the fourth quarter, but after getting a bucket from Wilson and four points from Kroft, Marietta would cut the lead to one point, 36-35.  Serbin broke the Polar Bear cold snap with a three-pointer, but Tolson answered with a clutch trey to keep the differential at one.  Akamine scored from beyond the arc at the two minute mark to extend the lead, and the Pioneers had to start fouling to stop the clock.  Ohio Northern went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch and Marietta could not respond.  Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) scored a three-pointer in the closing seconds but the Pioneers ran out of time and fell to the Polar Bears, 48-41.

Tolson led the Pioneers with 12 points.  Wilson and Kroft finished with nine points and Gribble finished with a team high 10 rebounds.

Serbin led ONU with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Allen added eight points and nine rebounds.

Marietta has one more contest before the Christmas holiday as they will travel to Washington and Jefferson College on Wednesday (Dec. 19).  The tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 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 X and Instagram.