MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team scored the first points 90 seconds into the game and then never trailed, coming away with a conference victory over Mount Union, 68-48, on Wednesday (Jan. 8) evening. Marietta improves to 8-3 on the season and 3-2 in the OAC. The Purple Raiders fall to 5-7 overall and 0-5 in conference games.
"It was good to be back home," said Marietta head coach
Jenna Andersen. "We wanted to win the battle of the boards, which we did by a slight margin. We did a good job on defense, communicating well and getting back in transition. We shared the wealth on offense while shutting down Mount's top two players. Good win all around".
Both teams began the game with a pair of missed shots before
Paige Tolson's (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) layup broke the scoreless tie.
Ella McMillen (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes) and
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) nailed three pointers and
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) scored a layup to give the Pioneers a 10-1 lead. Later in the quarter, the Purple Raiders fought back with an 8-0 run, fueled by five points from Tess Conroy, to cut the Pioneer lead to two. Marietta regained the momentum as Grake sank a pair of jumpers and the Pioneers led after one quarter of play, 20-14.
The second quarter started slow again for both teams, but Mount Union scored the first three points to cut the deficit to three. Hill answered for the Pioneers with a three-pointer to double up the lead. Marietta started to heat up as the period progressed, closing out with a 14-2 run.
Abby Garner (Macedonia, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) scored five points and
Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) scored four points during the rally and Marietta led 39-23 going into halftime.
Both teams traded buckets in the early stages of the third quarter, but the Purple Raiders tried desperately to get back into the game. Mount Union got five consecutive points from Chelsea Evanich to cut the lead to 11. Marietta regained control as they closed out the period with the final seven points, including a three pointer from Tolson and found themselves up 52-34 after three.
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), who sat much of the first half with foul trouble, helped the Pioneers extend the lead in the final period as she converted a layup and hit a pair from the free throw line. Mount Union attempted a fourth quarter comeback as they went on an 8-0 run, but could only cut the lead to 15. Later, Elizabeth Mason scored on consecutive layups but Mount Union still could not bridge the gap. Grake scored a corner three pointer at the 1:30 mark and both teams subsequently emptied the benches. Marietta would cruise to a 68-48 victory.
Grake led four Pioneers in double figures with 12 points. Harlan provided 11 points off of the bench. Hill and Tolson finished with 10 points apiece with Tolson leading the team with five assists and two steals.
Evanich led the Purple Raiders with 13 points. Conroy came off the bench and provided nine points. Mason finished with seven points.
Marietta will return to the Ban Johnson Arena this Saturday (Jan. 11) as they host Ohio Northern University in the first game of the Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the men's game following at 4 p.m.
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 X and Instagram.
