NEW CONCORD, Ohio – After the Marietta College women's basketball team took a double-digit lead into the half, they outscored Muskingum University 23-7 in the third period to put the game out of reach and cruised to an 81-47 conference win over the Fighting Muskies Wednesday (Jan. 15) evening. With the win the Pioneers improve to 10-4 overall and 4-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and with the loss Muskingum falls to 4-10 overall and 2-5 in OAC action.
"Such a great win for our team tonight," said Head Coach
Jenna Andersen. 'We got off to a slower start than we wanted, but we were able to start rolling in the second quarter. It is always a great feeling when everyone gets into the game and contributes."
Marietta jumped out to an early 7-3 lead as
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) opened with a three-pointer and the followed with a layup. Later in the period, Muskingum cut the lead to two point as Laurell Brown and Courtney Hivick converted consecutive layups. Tolson's trey at the 3:32 mark extended the lead to five and
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) got in the scoring column as she converted a layup in the final two minutes, giving the Pioneers a 23-17 lead going into the second quarter.
Both teams experienced a two-minute scoring drought to begin the second period, but Marietta finally got back on track.
Sophia Murray (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) cut through the lane for a pair of layups and Tolson hit yet again from behind the arc to push the Pioneer lead to 11.
Adi Hill's (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) jumper at the 5:11 mark gave Marietta their biggest lead at that point and, in the final minute,
Kelsey Harlan's (Sardis, Ohio/River) three pointer extended the lead to 17. Tori Jones answered with a three-pointer of her own in the closing seconds, but Marietta went on to lead 40-26 at the intermission.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) opened the scoring in the third period for the Pioneers with a three-pointer, but what followed was a three-minute scoreless drought that both teams had to endure. Tolson finally broke the scoreless streak with a jumper at the 5:45 mark and Marietta began to pour it on after that, finishing the quarter with an 11-0 run that was fueled by three layups from Harlan. As the final seconds of the period ticked down, Marietta would take a 63-33 advantage into the final period.
In the final period, Caoch Andersen was able to get everyone on the squad some minutes and the Marietta would sail to a 81-47 victory.
Tolson led the Pioneers with 20 points and three assists. Hill went perfect from the line on the way to a 10-point night. Murray came off the bench to score eight point and led the Pioneers with five rebounds.
Jones led with 10 points and Jocelynn Thorn came off the bench to provide eight points for the Muskies.
"We have had a tough go playing three games in four days," added Coach Andersen. "But I am so incredibly proud of how we have been playing."
Marietta will return to action Saturday (Jan 18) when they travel to battle Baldwin Wallace University, with tip off scheduled for 1 p.m.
Fans can follow all of 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
