MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team begins year two with Jenna Andersen at the helm.  In her first year as head coach, Andersen guided her team to a 15-11 record while finishing 9-9 in a difficult Ohio Athletic Conference. The Pioneers played well late in the season, winning four of their last six games to earn a fifth seed in the playoffs, but were sent home after a quarterfinal loss to Capital to end the season. Despite that, Andersen was very proud of how her team developed a season ago.
 
"Reflecting on year one of head coaching, I think there were a lot of moments you can consider as successes," said Coach Andersen. "We were able to get some solid wins under our belt while implementing a new offense, including the win at Capital during the regular season. We were able to continue to build our relationships as teammates and learn how to grow as leaders. But what I am most proud of is how we have defined our culture and our standards, everything we do, we do it for the team."
 
If the Pioneers are to gain more success this season, they will need to do it without some key contributors from last year's squad. In fact, Marietta's top five scorers from last season, most notably All-Conference players Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) and Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), are all gone due to graduation.
 
One thing Marietta has in its favor is a large group of young, athletic players that saw many important minutes last season. Underclassmen that were able to mature and contribute early and will still be around for the foreseeable future. Junior forward Ella McMillen (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes) returns after starting every game last season, averaging 3.6 points per game. Sophomores TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) and Amelia Uhrig (Chillicothe, Ohio/Unioto) will also play big minutes in the Pioneer front court.
 
The Pioneer backcourt will return some firepower as senior Sophie Nelson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Ritchie County), juniors Emma Rasmussen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) and Abby Garner (Macedonia, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), and sophomore Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) will all vie for minutes. Nelson and Rasmussen are the top returning three-point threats. Garner averaged nearly four points and three rebounds a game last year and is looking to improve further. Harlan played well as the second shift point guard last year and will compete for the team lead in assist and steals.
 
"We have a lot of players who are looking to prove themselves, and a team who wants to win," said Andersen. "Every player who came back this year is a key returner. We lost our top five scorers from last season, that leaves a lot of room for people to step into new roles. We need every player 1-18 to take their game up a notch."
 
The freshman class for the Pioneers is talented, deep, and, in most cases, local and will be competing for minutes this year. Kendall Sury (Waterford, Ohio/Waterford) is a former All-State player who helped bring a pair of state championships to nearby Waterford High School. Callie Powell (St. Marys, W.Va./St. Marys) earned All-State honorable mention status at St. Marys High School.  Ava Heller (Thornville, Ohio/Sheridan) was a former Muskingum Valley League Player of the Year at Sheridan High School.  Aleigha Busse (Blue Rock, Ohio/Philo) was the captain and a four-year letter winner on her team at Philo High School.
 
"We have an extremely talented group of six freshmen this season," said Coach Andersen. "They have all come in and been impressive with how quickly they can pick up our concepts, and how they have adopted our culture. I could not have asked for a better class; they work so hard every day."
 
Marietta will open the season on Saturday (Nov. 8) inside Ban Johnson Arena against Bethany College with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
 
"To have success this season we need to be better defensively, in every aspect, than we were last year," concluded Andersen. "We gave up way too many point per game and too many rebounds to our opponents. Committing to the defensive details will be crucial for us this year."
 
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.