WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Marietta College closed out the 2024 portion of its women's basketball schedule with a 76-63 loss at Otterbein University Saturday (Dec. 21) afternoon. The loss drops Marietta to 6-3 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Otterbein improves to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the OAC.
Both teams got off to a slow start. A three-pointer from Kyla Irby midway through the first quarter gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Otterbein would not relinquish the lead the rest of the afternoon.
The Pioneers stayed within striking distance.
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) hit a jumper in the final seconds of the first quarter to get Marietta within five points, 17-12. Otterbein used an 8-0 run in the second period to push the margin to 15 points, 32-17, with 1:53 l3ft in the first half. The Cardinals took a 32-20 lead into halftime.
Marietta scored the first eight points of the third quarter on three-pointers from Hill and
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) and a pair of Tolson free throws. However, a 6-0 run from Otterbein extended the Cardinal lead back into double digits. Tolson nailed a three-pointer with five seconds left in the third quarter to get Marietta within 10 points, 52-42, heading into the final period.
Tolson led a Marietta run cutting the Otterbein lead to five points, 60-55, with 3:25 left in the game. Tolson hit four free throws and
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) scored on a layup during the Pioneer run.
Trailing by six in the final minute of the game. The Pioneers were forced to put the Cardinals on the line. Otterbein converted 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Tolson led all scorers with 27 points on the strength of four three-pointers.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) scored eight points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Hill finished with eight points and five rebounds.
Otterbein had four players in double figures. Irby and Kiara Hudgins led the Cardinals with 17 points apiece. Hudgins pulled down a game-high nine boards. Abby Rawlings had 12 points and five rebounds, while Kathleen DeCarlo finished with 11 points and nine boards. Maizie King also grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinals.
Marietta is off until Saturday (Jan. 4) when the Pioneers travel to Heidelberg University for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.
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.
