UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — Despite a stronger second half of basketball, the Marietta College women's basketball team could not overcome the deficit experienced in the first 20 minutes and dropped a road game to #14-ranked John Carroll University, 68-54, Tuesday (Nov. 11) evening. The Pioneers fall to 1-1 on the season and John Carroll improves to 3-0 overall.
Marietta got the scoring going early with a layup from
Emma Rasmussen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban), but John Carroll quickly answered with three pointer from Ava Ryncarz and a layup from Carly Perusek to take a 5-2 lead. Perusek added a pair of shots from the paint to extend the lead to six, but the Pioneers returned the favor with consecutive layups by
TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) and
Ava Heller (Thornville, Ohio/Sheridan) to cut the lead to two halfway through the period. Later, with the Pioneers within reach, Perusek scored another pair of layups to take the Blue Streak lead to 22-14.
Amelia Uhrig (Chillicothe, Ohio/Unioto) got the final bucket of the period to slow the rally, but the Pioneers trailed by six going into the second quarter.
Marietta fell a bit further in the first four minutes in the second period as John Carroll's Bella Houillion nailed a trio of three-pointers, giving the Blue Streaks a 13-point advantage.
Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) and
Kendall Sury (Waterford, Ohio/Waterford) tried to slow the rally as they each hit jumpers to cut into the lead, but the Pioneers were held scoreless for nearly the next six minutes. John Carroll only managed six points themselves during that span, but did extend the lead to 15 points.
Sophie Nelson's (Parkersburg, W.Va./Ritchie County) single free throw was the final tally of the half, but the Pioneers took a 39-25 deficit into intermission.
The Pioneers tried to chip away at the lead in the third period, but John Carroll stayed with them step for step. Urhig scored a layup and Sury hit from three-point range early in the period to cut the lead to 11. The Blue Streaks answered with another three-pointer from Houillion and a layup from Carman Hueker to push back to a 17-point lead. The Pioneers got layups from Heller and Carpenter to close out the quarter but the deficit remained at 14, 58-44, heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams could only manage 10 points apiece in the final quarter that was highlighted with a pair of scores from Uhrig, but the Pioneers just could not overcome the deficit. Marietta would go on to lose the game, 68-54.
Uhrig led a balanced Pioneers attack with 10 points and collected three rebounds. Sury finished with seven points and four rebounds. Harlan distributed four assists to add to her four points. Rasmussen led with seven rebounds.
Perusek went 8-of-8 from the field for a game leading 17 points. Houillion chipped in 15 points for the Blue Streaks.
Marietta will travel to battle in the Denison Sara Lee Classic this weekend in Granville, Ohio. The Pioneers will battle Franklin College this Saturday (Nov. 15) at 7pm and then take Transylvania University on Sunday (Nov. 16) with a scheduled tip-off at 1:00 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.
