WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Marietta College women's basketball team trailed after one period, but quickly took the lead before the half ended and never looked back as they went on to defeat Wilmington College, 70-59 on Saturday (Jan 25) afternoon. The win improves the Pioneers record to 11-6 overall and 5-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and the loss drops the Quakers to 5-12 overall and 2-8 in OAC action.
"This was a great bounce back win for us," said Head Coach
Jenna Andersen. "Wilmington is an incredibly tough team who never gives up. We were able to battle with them for a full 40 minutes, and showed a lot of maturity. I'm happy with how we rebounded and cleaned up the glass in the fourth quarter. We played as one unit today, and I think it showed."
The Pioneers worked quickly to start the game as they powered into the paint, getting the ball to
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) who scored a layup for the first points of the game. The Quakers answered with a pair of jumpers, one from three-point range, from ZahKyria Walker to vault Wilmington to a 5-2 lead. Later in the period, Wilmington began to heat up from behind the arc as they buried another pair of triples to push the lead out to 11.
Ella McMillen's (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes) jumper at the 2:42 mark got the deficit back to single-digits and
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) scored on a mid-range jumper to close out the period. The Quakers would take a 21-13 lead into the next quarter.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) gave the Pioneers a lift in the first 90 seconds of the second period, hitting twice from the perimeter and cutting the margin to two. After both teams traded foul shots for the next two minutes,
Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) scored on a layup and was fouled. Her bonus free throw tied the contest at 25. With 1:21 remaining in the half and the Pioneers down one point,
Olivia Keeney (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) stole the basketball from the Quakers and scored a layup to put Marietta in the lead, their first since the first possession of the game. In the final minute of the half, Wilmington's Sydney Capen scored a layup to allow the Quakers to retake the lead, but Grake quickly made her way down the court to score as the final seconds ticked off the clock. That quick score gave the Pioneers a 39-38 lead at the intermission.
The Pioneers outscored Wilmington 16-7 in the third period as Quakers struggled from the field. With 3:45 remaining in the quarter, both teams tied at 45. Marietta would close out the period on a 10-0 run, fueled by five points from Hill. Grake made the final shot as she hit from three-point range and the third period would end with Marietta leading 55-45.
Despite Marietta going a collective 7-of-16 from the free throw line in the final period, the Quakers could not put a dent in the Pioneer lead. With 4:09 remaining, the Quakers got a three-pointer from Sierra McCoin to cut the lead to five. That would be as close they would get for the remainder of the game. Hill and Kroft scored consecutive buckets and Grake's layup at the 1:29 mark put the lead back to double-digits, thus cementing the game. The Pioneers would go on to win, 70-59.
The Pioneers were led by Grake with 18 points. Hill finished with 14 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Kroft scored nine points and pulled down a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Wilmington was led by Alaiya Meaux with 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Marietta will return to the court Wednesday (Jan 30) when they travel to clash with the University of Mount Union, with tip off scheduled for 7 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.
