WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Marietta College took advantage of a big second quarter to jump out to a large lead and cruise to victory over Otterbein University, 96-56, Wednesday (Feb. 7) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. With the win, Marietta advance to 17-5 overall and 12-3 in the OAC. Otterbein drops to 8-14 on the season and is also 6-9 in league play.
With the victory, and aided by Ohio Northern losing to Baldwin Wallace in other OAC action, Marietta is now in sole possession of second place in the conference with only three regular season games remaining.
"That run before halftime was really big for us," said Marietta head coach
Kole Vivian. "We didn't give Otterbein our best effort in January, but after our 2nd quarter fouling, we really locked in. We shot the ball well and limited their post game. We have a lot of momentum heading into Senior Day on Saturday."
Marietta got off to a quick start, getting layups from
Makenzie Wilson (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta),
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami), and
Hannah Schill (Rootstown, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban). After Otterbein came back to cut the lead to two,
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) scored a pair of layups to extend the lead to 10-4. The Cardinals got a three-pointer from Serenity Castle at the 2:21 mark to cut the lead to one. The Pioneers then scored five straight points, fueled by a
Kelly Levering (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) three pointer, and took a 15-11 lead into the second period.
Otterbein fought back into the game early into the second period, going on a 7-0 run. The Cardinals got four points from the free throw line and a three pointer from Claire Radabaugh to tie the score at 21. That would be the final points for the Cardinals in the half as Marietta would hold them scoreless for the final five minutes. The Pioneers scored 21 straight points themselves, powered by a trio of three-pointers from
Olivia Gribble (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) and five points from
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking), to close out the half with a commanding 42-21 lead going into halftime.
Gribble began the third period with another three pointer and, after getting a pair of buckets from Levering, the Pioneers led by 27. Later in the period,
Madison Cecil (Centerburg, Ohio/Highland) completed a rare four-point play and Tolson hit yet again from three-point range to give Marietta a 59-27 at the 5:28 mark. The Pioneers shot 15-for-17 from free throw line to keep the sizable lead and took a 75-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Both teams would empty the benches for much of final period and Marietta would go on to claim a 96-56 victory.
Gribble led the Pioneers with 18 points. Tolson finished with 15 points and Levering scored 10 in the contest. Wilson scored five points and led Marietta with 11 rebounds.
Katie McCrary scored 10 points for the Cardinals.
The Pioneers return home for their final home regular season contest of the season on Saturday (Feb. 10). The Pioneers will battle John Carroll University with a scheduled tipoff set for 2 p.m. Marietta will not only try to keep their eight-game winning streak alive, but will also celebrate Senior Day.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.
