MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team got off to a hot start at the Ban Johnson Arena, leading from beginning to end and defeating Ohio Northern University, 84-62, in an important Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Saturday (Feb. 3) afternoon. The win gives Marietta a 16-5 record overall and improves them to 11-3 in the OAC. Ohio Northern falls to 13-7 on the season and 11-3 in conference games.
"That was a big win in a great environment," sadin Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian. "We really got off to a really hot start. We were able to finish some good looks against a great defensive team, and battled them on the boards all game."
Coiach Vivian was very excited about the great crowd that was filled with a bunch of young Pioneer fans for Youth Day. "Special shoutout to Drake Bolon for organizing such a great crowd on youth day for us. Our environment was a major part of our success."
Marietta jumped out to a seven point lead as the Polar Bears missed on their first three shot opportunities.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) and
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) scored off of driving layups and
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) nailed a three-pointer during the opening run. ONU got back into the game as Abby Dickson hit a three pointer and Chloee Glenn scored after a big offensive rebound, cutting the lead to 9-7. Marietta responded with a 14-point run, fueled by a pair of buckets from
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) and a three-pointer from Schill. Tolson scored again in the final minute but Brooke Allen scored off an offensive rebound in the closing seconds to put the score at 27-11 with the Pioneers leading after the first quarter.
The Polar Bears tried to pick up the intensity in the second period. ONU got three quick points from Chloee Glenn and, after Noelle Ruane canned a three-pointer, cut the lead to 30-16. Marietta did a great job of answering every Polar Bear run with one of their own. The Pioneers' 9–0 run, fueled by three points from McKenzie Wilson and a three pointer for
Madison Cecil (Centerburg, Ohio/Highland), gave Marietta a 44–20 lead with 3:31 remaining in the half. An offensive rebound and put back by Glenn was answered by a mid-range jumper from Wilson in the closing seconds and the Pioneers took a 48-26 lead into intermission.
The shooting woes that the Polar Bears experienced in the first half reversed for the third quarter, but again Marietta was able to answer every Ohio Northern scoring surge. ONU's Brooke Allen scored from the low-post on three consecutive possessions and Brynn Serbin nailed a three pointer to cut the Pioneer lead to 17. Allie Grake answered immediately with a three-pointer of her own and
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) followed with a pull up jumper that made the score 58–35 with 6:11 remaining in the quarter. ONU then scored seven straight points to cut the margin to 16, the closest it had been since the first quarter, but Marietta closed out the period with a pair of treys from
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) to keep the margin at a comfortable level. The Pioneers led 71-53 going into the final period.
The Polar Bears went cold from the field they missed their first six shots in the first three minutes. Layla Dials layup cut the lead to 22, but the Polar Bears never found their rhythm and Pioneers never let up. After Tolson and Schill converted layups, the lead was at 81–55 with about four minutes left. Both teams began to empty their benches to finish the game in Marietta would cruise to a 84–62 victory.
Grake led the way for Marietta with 16 points, shooting 4-for-4 from three-point range. Schill contributed 13 points and led the Pioneers with eight rebounds and four assists.
Tolson scored 12 off of the bench.
Serbin finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Glenn scored 11 points and led the Polar Bears with eight rebounds. Allen finished with 10 points.
Following the game, Coach Vivian praised assistant coach
Scott Stalter for his long-time contributions with the team. The win was the 200th with Stalter as a member of the coaching staff.
Marietta travels to Westerville on Wednesday (Feb. 7) for a 7 p.m. tip-off against Otterbein University.
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 Twitter and Instagram.
