MARIETTA, Ohio — Despite a slow start, Marietta College played "shutdown" defense in the second half and hit some important shots to gain a comeback 64-60 victory over Otterbein University Wednesday (Feb. 5) evening. With the win, Marietta improves to 12-8 overall and 6-7 in the OAC. Otterbein falls to 10-10 on the season and is also 6-7 in league play.
"I think we did great on defense tonight," said Marietta head coach
Jenna Andersen. "We know we are not the biggest team, so defense is going to help us win games. We pressured them well, especially in the second half, and that gave us opportunities on offense. We hits some important shots and it was great to see how much energy they had as the game wore on. This was a win that we needed."
Both teams traded buckets to begin the game, but Otterbein took an 8-4 lead after Kathleen DeCarlo converted a layup and Mattie Walburn followed with a jumper at the 5:46 mark. Despite some cold Marietta shooting from the floor,
Paige Tolson (Guysville, Ohio/Federal Hocking) got the Pioneers close after she hit a pair of free throws and followed with a slashing layup. Unfortunately, that would be their final points of the quarter. Otterbein would hit twice more from the free throw line and took a 12-8 lead into the second quarter.
Marietta got themselves back in the game with four points to begin the second quarter, tying the game at 12. The Cardinals answered with a pair of jumpers from Walburn and eventually pushed out to an eight point lead after Maizie King hit a jumper from the paint. Later in the quarter, the Pioneers got three pointers from Kelsey Harlon and
Emma Rasmussen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) to chip the deficit to four.
Abby Garner (Macedonia, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) came off the bench to give Marietta a boost with four points and
Sophia Murray (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) closed out the half with a three-pointer. The Pioneers trailed 29-27 going into halftime.
The Pioneers had some early success in the third period getting the ball inside to
Hannah Kroft (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) as she scored on a pair of layups.
Ally Grake (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami) followed with a layup to cut the lead to one. On the next possession,
TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) made a steal, hurried up the court, and was fouled in an attempt to score. Her following free throws gave Marietta their first lead of the game. After the lead changed hands on the next three possessions, Otterbein went on a run. They scored 10 straight points, fueled by four points from Walburn, to take their largest lead of the game at that point.
Adi Hill (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta) finally got a jumper to fall in the final minute and the Pioneers cut the lead to 46-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
Hill came on strong in the fourth period as she scored eight of the first nine Pioneer points, helping Marietta tie the contest at 48. Later in the period, Hill gave the Pioneers a three point lead with a crucial three-pointer with 4:46 remaining. King got the Cardinals to within one with a layup but Carpenter answered on the other end with a layup of her own. In the final minute, Walburn again cut the lead to one with a layup but the Cardinals were forced to foul to stop the clock. Marietta did their job, hitting 5-of-6 from the line, to close out the game. The Pioneers would go on to claim the 64-60 conference victory, breaking their two-game losing streak.
Hill led the Pioneers with 15 points. Murray finished with 10 points. Grake scored eight points and led the Pioneers with four rebounds and four steals.
Mattie Walburn led the Cardinals with 20 points and collected four rebounds. 'DeCarlo finished with 11 points.
The Pioneers return to the Ban Johnson Arena this Saturday (Feb. 8) as it will be Winter Weekend on campus. The Pioneers will have a women's/men's doubleheader with Heidelberg University. The women's matchup with the Student Princes is scheduled for a special 1 p.m. tipoff and the men will follow with a scheduled 3 p.m. start time.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollegeand @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.
