MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team got off to quick start in the first quarter, only to lose the lead midway through the game. With the help of improved shooting and some shutdown defense late in the second half, the Pioneers defeated Wilmington College 81-77 on Saturday (Dec. 7) afternoon at the Ban Johnson Arena. Marietta improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Wilmington falls to 2-5 on the season and 0-2 in the OAC.
"We wanted to come out aggressively today and establish the press early," said Marietta head coach
Jenna Andersen. "It worked for a bit, but they figured it out and got some tough baskets. We were able to withstand their run and shut them down late with some great defense. There are lots of things that we can take away from this that need to be worked on, but a win is a win and we'll take it."
Marietta jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first four minutes of the contest, fueled by a trio of threes from
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta). During that run, the defense shut down the Quakers, holding them to only two shots and collecting four early steals. Later in the quarter, the Pioneers got a pair of buckets from
Emma Rasmussen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) to extend the lead to 10 points. Wilmington chipped away at the lead and, after a three-pointer from Sierra McCoin, trailed by six points at the 1:51 mark. Marietta pushed the lead back to double digits after a trey from
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) and a layup from
Sophie Nelson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Ritchie County) and took a 27-18 lead into the second quarter.
Wilmington went on a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter, holding Marietta scoreless for the first four minutes. Marietta answered with an 8-0 run of their own, keyed by five points from
Ella McMillen (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes), to lead 35-27. Again, the Quakers fought back to tie with eight consecutive points, the final bucket off of a jumper from Ky Walker. In the final minute of the half, Wilmington's Olivia Trusty converted a layup and a pair of free throws to give the Quakers their first lead of the game. The lead was short-lived, though, as
Kelsey Harlan's (Sardis, Ohio/River) layup in the closing seconds gave the Pioneers a 42-41 lead at halftime.
Both teams began the third quarter on a two-minute scoring drought, but Wilmington retook the lead, 44-42, on a three from Gabby Russell. Later in the quarter, Stephani Altstaetter hit consecutive layups to give the Quakers a five-point cushion at the 4:18 mark. Marietta came back as
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) nailed a jumper and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to one. The Pioneers closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run, getting threes from Hill and McMillen, and led 60-54 going into in the fourth quarter.
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and Kroft converted another pair of layups to give Marietta a nine point lead with less than eight minutes remaining. Marietta kept extending the advantage and, after Tolson's layup at the 3:03 mark, led by 12. Wilmington chipped away but could not overcome the deficit and Pioneers claimed the victory, 81-77.
Hill led the Pioneers with 14 points, shooting 4-of-9 from behind the arc. McMillen finished with 14 points and four rebounds. Kroft scored 10 points and led the Pioneers with seven rebounds and four steal. Harlan score 10 points off the bench.
Wilmington's Atlstaetter led all scorers with 18.
Marietta next travels to John Carroll for a conference bout on Saturday (Dec. 14), scheduled for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The Men's basketball team will play immediately following, scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
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.
