BEREA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team got out to a modest halftime lead and, with the help of a 27-point third quarter, defeated Ohio Athletic Conference leader Baldwin Wallace University, 71-56, on Saturday (Feb. 17) afternoon. The road victory closed out the Pioneer regular season on an 11-game winning streak. Marietta improves to 20-5 overall and 15-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The 15 OAC victories are the most in the history of the program. Baldwin Wallace falls to 20-5 on the season and 16-2 in conference games.
"That was a really big road win over a great opponent," Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian said. "We had such a good third quarter and that was the difference. We are playing great ball right now heading into the OAC tournament."
The first quarter was a battle of attrition as neither team could get into an early rhythm.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) answered an early Yellow Jacket basket to give the Pioneers their first points. She then hit a pair of free throws at the 7:37 mark to give Marietta an early lead. Both teams would go scoreless for the next three minutes, but business would pick up as
Madison Cecil (Centerburg, Ohio/Highland) hit a three-pointer and
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) followed with a layup to put the lead at 8-5. With less than two minutes in the quarter,
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) hit from three-point range and followed with a layup on the next possession to push the lead to six.
Sophia Murray (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) scored a layup in the final seconds and the Pioneers led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter;
The second quarter began with a three-pointer from Grake to give Marietta their biggest lead at that point at nine points. Baldwin Wallace would answer with a trio of baskets, the final coming from an Emily Irwin layup at the 6:07 mark, cutting the Pioneer lead to 22-18. Later in the quarter, Cecil scored a layup and then hit a trey to extend the lead to seven. Bella Valliant brought the Yellow Jackets back with a pair of free throws and layup, cutting the lead to three. In the final minute, Gribble nailed a jumper and Tolson scored a layup and Marietta took a 33-26 lead into intermission.
The Pioneers scored the first points of the second half as
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) scored on a driving layup, but Irwin score five straight points to cut into the lead. Marietta answered with a pair of
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) layups and, after a three-pointer from
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), led 42-33. Marietta extended the lead further as Hill hit again from three-point range and Cecil followed with a layup and bonus free throw to put the score at 50-36. In the final minute, Gribble scored another three-pointer and Tolson closed the quarter with a layup and bonus free throw and Marietta took a 60-39 lead going into the final period.
BW outscored Marietta in the final period, 17-11, but could not overcome the difference. The Pioneers got early buckets from Tolson and Levering and never looked back. Marietta cruised through the final period to claim the 71-56 victory.
Gribble led Marietta with 13 points. Tolson finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Cecil scored 10 points.
Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) grabbed nine rebounds to lead the team.
Valliant paced the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 17 points. Irwin ended with seven points.
Marietta had already clinched the No. 2 seed, but now knows that they will be facing the winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup between Mount Union and Capital. The OAC Semifinal will be at the Ban Johnson Arena this Thursday (Feb. 22) with a 7 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.
