GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Marietta College women's basketball team played a rare Sunday game as they competed on the final day of the Sara Lee Classic at Denison University.  Marietta got off to a slow start and never caught back up as they lost the consolation game, 72-53, to Transylvania University Sunday (Nov. 16) afternoon.  With the loss, Marietta fall to 1-3 overall and the win improves Transylvania to 2-1 overall.   

Marietta fell behind 7-0 in a slow moving first quarter but got a layup from Amelia Uhrig (Chillicothe, Ohio/Unioto) at the 6:14 mark to get on the board. The remainder of the period, though, Marietta struggled to find any offensive flow, finishing 3-of-12 from the floor. Sophie Nelson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Ritchie County) and Kendall Sury (Waterford, Ohio/Waterford) scored layups, but Marietta was held scoreless for the final two minutes and trailed 16-7 going into the second period. 
 
Marietta opened the second period well after Abby Garner (Macedonia, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) scored a basket and bonus free throw and Sury followed with jumper to cut the Transylvania lead to four. Later in the period, the opponent Pioneers got a pair of three-pointers Keaton Hall to cap off a 13-5 run, extending the lead to 12 with two minutes left.  Marietta closed the half with a pair of Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) free throws and took a 35-25 deficit into the intermission. 
 
Transylvania darted off to a backbreaking 8-0 run to begin the third quarter and Marietta had difficulty getting back into the contest. Payten Bruns (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) scored to stop the rally but the Pioneers only managed a layup from Uhrig and a jumper from Sarah Podkul (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) for the rest of the quarter and trailed Transylvania 58-36 heading into the final period. 

Marietta put together a much better fourth quarter, fueled by eight points by Nelson, but could not overcome the difference and fell to Transylvania, 72-53. 

Nelson led Marietta with 15 points. Garner finished with seven points and Bruns scored five. Harlan, who was named to the All-Tournament team, led the team with five assists. 

The Pioneers return home to the Ban Johnson Arena this Friday (Nov. 21) to host the 39th Annual Jim Meagle Classic sponsored by BSN Sports. They will take on Washington and Jefferson College in the second game on Friday, with a scheduled start time of 8 p.m.  That will follow the match up between SUNY Cortland and Carnegie Mellon University at 6 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.