MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College dropped a conference matchup to Otterbein University, 66-63, Wednesday (Jan. 10) evening after the Cardinals hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds.  With the loss, Marietta falls to 9-5 overall and 4-3 in the OAC. Otterbein improves to 5-9 on the season and is also 3-4 in league play. 

Marietta raced out to a 11-3 lead in the first few minutes of the period as they found early success from three-point range.  Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) nailed a three to start the scoring and Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) followed with a three from the top of the arc.  Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) followed with five points to give Marietta the early advantage.  Otterbein would fight back into the contest as  Serenity Castle's three-pointer at the 4:33 mark would go on to spark 16-0 run over the next three minutes.  She would hit twice more from beyond the arc to fuel the run.  Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) would finally answer with a three of her own to slow the Cardinal momentum, but Otterbein 21-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Marietta got themselves back in the game with five more points from Tolson to begin the second quarter, cutting the deficit to two.  Later in the quarter, with the Pioneers down four, Levering nailed a jumper and followed with a layup to tie the game.  After trading buckets for the next two minutes, Marietta regained the lead with a driving layup from Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami), only to lose the lead as Otterbein's Olivia Majors scored a layup and followed with a bonus free throw with :12 seconds left.  Levering closed out the half with a three-pointer and the Pioneers took a 35-33 advantage going into halftime.

Both teams started off cold in the second half but the Cardinals jumped back into the lead at the 5:02 mark as Majors nailed a three-pointer.  After some back and forth action for the next three minutes, Tolson got the Pioneers back into the lead with a driving layup and bonus free throw with 2:30 remaining.  The Pioneers extended the lead going 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final seconds and led, 51-45, heading into the fourth quarter.

After Tolson led the fourth quarter with a jumper, Otterbein roared back with three consecutive treys to rush back into a 54-53 lead.  Marietta answered with buckets from Grake and Sophia Murray (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River), putting them back into a three-point lead.  Later in the quarter, Abby Rawlings hit from three-point range to give the lead back to the Cardinals.  As both teams racked up fouls, Marietta and Otterbein spent much of the period trading bonus free throws.  Tolson's pair from the charity stripe tied the contest at 63 with 1:45 remaining.  Gribble tried to give the Pioneers the lead with :06 remaining but missed the shot.  Kyla Irby grabbed the rebound and Otterbein called a timeout.  On the inbound, Irby shot it from the right wing and swished the three-pointer, giving the Cardinals a 66-63 victory.
 
Tolson led the Pioneers with 19 points. Levering finished with 14 points and led with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.  

Maizie King led the Cardinals with 19 points and eight rebounds. '

The Pioneers travel to John Carroll University on Saturday (Jan. 13) for a scheduled 2 p.m. game against the Blue Streaks.

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 X and Instagram.