MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College women's basketball team capped off the final matchup of the 37th annual Jim Meagle Holiday Classic, sponsored by BSN Sports, with a 63-56 victory over Oberlin College.  With the win, Marietta improves to 8-3 overall and the loss drops the Yeowomen to 9-2 overall.   

Head Coach Kole Vivian said, "I am really proud of how we finished that game. We had a double digit lead but Oberlin is a tough and well coached team, and we knew they would make a run at the end. We held our composure and got contributions from so many people tonight."

Marietta struck first as Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) scored on a layup, but Oberlin answered with a pull up jumper from Camille Zinaich to tie it at two.  On the next possession, Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) drove the lane and found Levering in the corner, who then nailed a three-pointer to regain the lead.  Later in the quarter, Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) hit a pair of jumpers to put the lead at 9-4.  The Yeowomen would then answer with a 6-0 run and took their first lead, 10-9.  After Gina Lombard nailed a three-pointer, Oberlin led 13-11 at the 3:43 mark.  Two minutes later, Levering again nailed a clutch three-pointer to put the Pioneers back into a one-point advantage.  Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) converted a pair of free throws in the closing seconds and the Pioneers led 16-15 to enter the second quarter.

After Zinaich put Oberlin briefly back into the lead with a jumper to open the quarter, the Pioneers battled back with five consecutive points from Tolson and the Pioneers led 21-17.  The lead changed again as Ellie Pollock-Ballard nailed a three and Zinaich hit another jumper, giving Oberlin a 22-21 advantage.  The teams swapped buckets over the next few minutes before the Pioneers tied the game at 26 points apiece with a jumper from Wilson.  With 44 seconds remaining, Tolson stormed the lane and scored on a driving layup, giving Marietta a 28-26 lead.  That would be the score as both teams went into the  intermission.  

Marietta opened the third quarter strong as they outscored Oberlin 10-2, with points coming from Levering, Wilson, Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban), Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami), and Gribble, putting the score at 38-28 at the 6:37 mark.  After the two teams traded buckets, Gribble's triple with 1:33 remaining extended the Pioneer lead to 12. Katherine Csiszar closed out the quarter with a layup for the Yeowomen, cutting the Pioneer advantage to 48-38 to enter the final frame.  

Oberlin found themselves back into the contest as they opened the fourth period on a 9-3 run.  Zinaich's turnaround jumper at the 4:26 mark closed the gap to just two points, 51-49.  Two minutes later, Alyson Jefferson converted a layup to cut the lead to one point.  After Tolson scored a layup to extend the lead to three, Lombard committed a costly turnover on the next possession.  The Pioneers iced the game when Levering rebounded her own missed layup and found Gribble open on the left wing.  Gribble nailed the subsequent three-pointer, giving the Pioneers a six-point cushion.  Oberlin could not get any closer and Marietta would go on to win the game, 63-56.  

Marietta was led by Tolson with 18 points, shooting a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.  Levering scored 16 points and notched a team lead seven rebounds on her way to claiming the Most Valuable Player award for the weekend.  Gribble was also named to the All-Tournament team and finished the contest with 12 points.  
 
Zinaich led all scorers with 20 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.  For her efforts, she was named to the All-Tournament team as well as Pollock-Ballard, who finished with 14 points.
 
In the earlier games, Carnegie Mellon defeated Mount Aloysius, 69-54, and Gettysburg knocked off Trine, 57-39.  In addition to the Marietta and Oberlin players, Catherine Or from Carnegie Mellon, Molly Kosmack from Mount Aloysius, Sidney Wagner from Trine, and Mackenzie Szlosek and Alayna Arnolie from Gettysburg were named to the all-tournament team.  

Marietta will return to the court Wednesday (Jan. 3) when they travel to Muskingum University with tip off scheduled for 7 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 X and Instagram.