MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team tried to chip away at a halftime deficit, and even took a brief lead in the fourth quarter, only to fall short in the end to John Carroll University, 76-70, Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon. The Pioneers fell to 11-8 on the season and 5-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Blue Streaks improved to 14-5 overall and 8-4 in conference games.
"JCU shot really well during the second quarter, but we knew that they were capable of that", said Marietta head coach
Jenna Andersen. "We knew that we needed to keep an eye on their shooters but, in that second quarter, we let them get loose and they made us pay. If we would have shut that down, this would have been a different game. That all being said, I thought we fought very hard to get back into that game. We picked it up defensively and that gave us a chance."
Marietta got buckets from
Ella McMillen (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes) and
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) to help push them to an opening 5-0 lead. Later in the quarter, Tolson nailed a pair of three-pointers to push the lead to nine with 4:48 remaining in the quarter. The Blue Streaks then went on 11-0 run, finished by a three-pointer by Brooke Laub in the final seconds, and John Carroll led 15-13 going into the second period.
The Pioneers had a rough second quarter shooting the basketball as they went 3-of-17 from the field, but still fought back to take a 21-20 lead with 5:27 remaining in the half. John Carroll answered with a 17-4 run to close out the half, including a trio of three-pointers from Ava Ryncarz. Tolson hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds, but Marietta trailed 37-25 lead going into halftime.
Marietta found a way back into the game using a strong effort during the third quarter. Tolson and
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) opened with a layup apiece and Tolson's layup and bonus free throw at the 8:30 mark cut the lead to eight. Later, the Pioneers scored nine straight points, four from
Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River), to cut the lead to 47-43, but JCU closed out their third period going 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Tolson hit from three-point range in the final seconds, cutting the differential to 52-48 going into the fourth quarter.
Marietta took early control in the fourth as they began with a 7-2 run, getting a key three-pointer from
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta). The Blue Streaks answered with a pair of three-pointers from Graci Semptimphelter to help push out to a 60-58 advantage. Both teams traded buckets for the next few possessions, but John Carroll widened the lead to five as Ella Neitzel and Carly Perusek scored consecutive baskets. In the final minute, Harlan cut the lead to three with a layup, but the Pioneers had to foul to stop the clock. The Blue Streaks hit 7-of-8 from the line and the Pioneers could not overcome the deficit. John Carroll went on to a 76-70 victory.
Tolson led Marietta with 30 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Harlan added nine points and also collected five steals.
Ryncarz led the Blue Streaks with 21 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds. Neitzel came off the bench to score 15 points.
The Pioneers will return to the Ban Johnson Arena this Wednesday and welcome in Otterbein University, scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
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.
