MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team had a tough assignment in their regular season finale as they had to face #9-ranked Baldwin Wallace University.  Despite a much improved performance from the last time these two team battled, the Pioneers still lost 73-60 to the Yellow Jackets on Saturday (Feb. 22) afternoon.  The loss closed out the Pioneer regular season with a record of 15-10 overall and 9-9 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Baldwin Wallace improves to 24-1 on the season and perfect 18-0 in conference games.

"Have to give a ton of credit to Baldwin Wallace, they are a heck of a team," said Marietta head coach Jenna Andersen. "They showed today why they are one of the best teams in the country. We made huge improvements from the first time we met them earlier this season. I'm happy with the fight we showed today. We have a great opportunity next week heading into the tournament, everyone is 0-0 so I am excited to see what we can do." 
 
Before the game, the Pioneers celebrated Senior Day.  Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami), Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking), and Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) all participated in their final regular season game and were all recognized for their great careers.
 
"I can't say enough about our four seniors," said Andersen of her seniors. "They have given so much to us as a program over the last four years. You'll be hard to come by another group that loves this program more than them. Their hard work and dedication is the exact reason why they are leaving as the winningest class in our history. I cannot wait to see what amazing things they do once their careers on the hardwood come to an end."
 
After BW jumped out to a 6-0 lead, the Pioneers answered with a pair of three-pointers from Tolson to tie it up.  Both teams would trade basket for the next several minutes, but the Yellow Jackets would take a three-point lead after Caely Ressler tipped in a missed Kayla Jones free throw.  Kroft followed with a layup the Pioneers would trail 14-13 at the end of the first quarter;
 
The second quarter began with an Hill layup and Marietta took the lead, but it would not stick.  The Yellow Jackets would rip off nine straight points to push out to a 23-15 lead.  Later in the period, Ava Wilkerson and Kacie Badylak hit consecutive treys to give BW a 13-point lead.  Ella McMillen (Shreve, Ohio/West Holmes) scored on a layup to cut into the deficit but Marietta trailed 37-26 lead going into intermission.
 
The Pioneers tried to cut into the lead in the third period as Hill and Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) both scored a couple of buckets.  Hill's layup at the 5:50 mark cut the lead to seven, but Maddie Ebbert answered with five straight points for BW to extend the lead back to 12.  Later in the period, McMillen cut the lead back to 10 with a layup, but the Yellow Jackets finished the quarter scoring six of the next eight points and took a 59-45 lead going into the final period.
 
Marietta out scored Baldwin Wallace in the final period, 15-14, but could not overcome the difference.  The Yellow Jackets cruised to a 73-60 victory.

Tolson led Marietta with 14 points.  Hill finished with 12 points.  Kroft scored 11 points and finished with five rebounds. 
 
Emily Irwin paced the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 15 points

Marietta clinched the No. 5 seed and will face Capital this Tuesday (Feb. 25) in an OAC quarterfinal matchup, with a scheduled 7 p.m. tip-off.

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.