ALLIANCE, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team struggled shooting the ball from the floor in the second half, but Mount Union shot over 60 percent and ran away with a 84-68 victory, Wednesday (Jan. 29) evening. Marietta falls to 11-7 on the season and 5-6 in the OAC. The Purple Raiders improve to 8-10 overall and 3-8 in conference games.
Both teams battled out to a 5-all tie in the first three minutes of the quarter, but after
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) converted three free throws and
Sophia Murray (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) scored on a layup, Marietta led by three. The Raiders answered with a 6-0 run, getting four points from Tess Conroy, to retake the lead. After both teams went on a three-minute scoring drought, Marietta finally broke the ice with a layup from
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) and the Pioneers trailed 13-12 heading into the second stanza.
Mount Union pushed the lead to three in early action of the second quarter, but the Pioneers got a three-pointer from
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) to tie it up at 17. Both teams traded treys over the next several possessions, but Marietta still led by three after Emma Rassmussen hit her second three-pointer of the quarter. Mount Union retook the lead with a three-pointer from Rylee Hutton at the 2:36 mark, but did not score for the remainder of the half.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) put Marietta back into the lead, hitting a shot from three-point range in the final minute and taking a 29–28 lead going into intermission.
Marietta opened the second half with a three-pointer from Murray, but struggled for much of the remainder of the period. The Purple Raiders went on a 10-0 run, fueled by four points from Dae Dae Nash, to give them a six-point advantage. Later in the period,
Olivia Keeney's (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) layup and Hill's three-pointer got the Pioneers back to within two points and Tolson tied it back up with two free throws at the 1:28 mark. Mount Union consistently responded with critical baskets, though, getting a pair of layups in the final minute to take a 53-49 lead into the final quarter.
The gap widened for the Purple Raiders in the opening moments of the fourth quarter as they scored the first five points. Kroft did her part to keep the Pioneers close as she converted a pair of free throws and scored from the paint on the next possession to cut the Raider lead to five. Mount Union stayed hot from the field, though, and did not allow Marietta to get any closer. They Raiders closed out the contest on a 10-0 run, all from the free throw line, and collected the 84-68 conference victory.
Hill led the Pioneers with 15 points and five rebounds. Kroft scored 13 points and also collected five rebounds.
Elizabeth Mason led Mount Union with 20 points and Nash finished with 19 points.
Marietta will return home this Saturday (Feb. 1) as they will host John Carroll in a men's/women's doubleheader. Tip-off for the women's game is set for 2 p.m. with the men's game scheduled for 4 p.m.
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.
