BABSON PARK, Mass. — The Marietta College women's basketball team made their very first appearance in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament and was hoping to keep the dream alive.  A rough-shooting second quarter put the Pioneers behind at the half and they could not make up the difference, falling to #10/13 Babson College Beavers, 73-59.

"I couldn't be more proud of our team," said Marietta coach Kole Vivian.  "This team went through so much this year, and they came back stronger each time.  I am so grateful for our seniors. All five of them sacrificed so much for us to have the team success we had this year." 

The Pioneers began on a 5-0 run as Madison Cecil's (Centerburg, Ohio/Highland) offensive rebound and putback began the scoring and Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) nailed a three-pointer.  The Beavers fought back and took the lead on consecutive jumper form Kelly Walsh and Katelyn Mollica.  The lead changed hands nine times over the next seven minutes, but the Pioneers held a one-point lead as Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) buried a jumper at the 1:19 mark.  Babson's Samantha Smith scored a jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute at Beavers led 19-17 after one period.

The second period was troublesome for the Pioneers as they became cold shooting the ball.  Marietta missed their first eight shots before Gribble scored with 2:07 left in the half.  Babson went on a 12-point run during the Pioneer scoring drought and extended the lead to 12.  Devin Hefner's (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) layup in the closing seconds put the score at 35-23 with the Pioneers trailing at halftime.

"We had a hard time scoring the second quarter," said Coach Vivian. "It's tough to battle up hill against a really good team on their home court. But like always, we battled."

The Pioneers chipped into the lead during the third quarter.  Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) and Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) hit jumpers and Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) converted a layup to cut the lead to seven at the 6:37 mark.  Gribble answered a Babson basket with a three and Marietta trailed 41-35.  After some back and forth offense, Mollica pushed the lead to nine in the closing seconds of the third took a 48-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The fourth period began with a Megan Bauman layup to push the Babson lead to 12, but Marietta score the next five points as Kroft hit from inside and Gribble from beyond the perimeter.  That would be as close as Marietta would get.  The Beavers pushed the score out as many as 14 as the Pioneers were forced to foul to stop the clock.  Marietta's dream season would come to an end, falling to Babson 73-59.
 
Hefner finished her Pioneer career leading the Pioneers with 12 points and pulling down five rebounds. Gribble finished with 10 points.  Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) finished with 8 points.  Erin Hahn (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) led the team with eight rebounds.  
 
Walsh led all scorers with 18 points and also collected seven rebounds and dished out five assists.  Bauman finished with 17 points, going 10 of 10 from the foul line.
 
The Pioneers finish the season with a 22-8 record, making history once again as they made the furthest run into the NCAA tournament in school history.

SPECIAL CHALLENGE
Judy, Bill, and Fuzzy Ruud are very proud of these student-athletes and are issuing a challenge to all Pioneers. The Ruuds will donate $1,000 toward the purchase of commemorative tournament rings for the team to celebrate this historic season if an additional $4,000 is donated by April 1.

Please consider joining us in recognizing the team's accomplishments as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX and all of our female Pioneers.