TIFFIN, Ohio — Marietta College put together a dominating defensive effort, causing a total of 34 turnovers which led to 42 Marietta points. The Pioneers also collected 19 steals and blocked eight shots, on the way to an 84-46 conference win over Heidelberg University on Saturday (Jan. 10) afternoon. With the win, the Pioneers extended their win streak to four and improved to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Heidelberg drops to 1-12 on the season and 0-4 in conference games.

"It feels great to keep stacking wins in conference play," said Marietta head coach Jenna Andersen.  "We have been giving teams trouble with our defense the past few games, and that has helped us a ton. We have been changing defenses pretty regularly throughout our games just to give people different looks. Today it worked really well in our favor as we were able to force Heidelberg into some turnovers that helped fuel our offense. We have a big test next Saturday.  We look forward to keeping things rolling."
 
Heidelberg jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter, as the Pioneers were held scoreless for nearly the first four minutes. After Marietta finally got on the board with a Sophie Nelson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Ritchie County) free throw, they would go on 12-0 run which was fueled by a trio of layups from Sarah Podkul (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area). The Pioneer lead expanded to 10 after baskets from TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) and Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River), but the Student Princes found some momentum to close out the quarter, going on a mini 5-1 run to put the score at 21-14 with Marietta leading into second quarter. 
 
The margin briefly got a bit closer as Heidelberg scored the first five points of the second period, cutting the lead to two.  After a Marietta timeout, the Pioneers regained control with five consecutive points from Harlan.  The Marietta defense caused headaches for Heidelberg all throughout the night, but especially in the second period. The Student Prince turned the ball over five times in a two-minute span and Marietta cashed them in with a 9-0 run, extending the Pioneer lead to 17 points.  Heidelberg continued having a tough time combating the Pioneer defensive shutdown and managed only one basket in the final two minutes. The Pioneers closed out the period adding another 12 points and led 49-25 going into the intermission. 
 
The good fortunes continued for Marietta in the third period as Harlan converted layups on three consecutive possessions. The swarming Pioneer defense kept Heidelberg scoreless for nearly five minutes. Abby Garner (Macedonia, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) scored consecutive layups and Coach Andersen started to get more players off the bench and into the game. Tess Trimble (Maineville, Ohio/Little Miami), Callie Powell (St. Marys, W.Va./St. Marys), and Aleigha Busse (Blue Rock, Ohio/Philo) got shots to fall and Marietta led 72-36 going into the final period. 

The fourth quarter deficit was too much overcome and the Pioneers collected their fourth consecutive victory, breezing to an 84-46 conference win. 

Harlan led all scorers with 19 points. Podkul scored 12 points and led with six steals. Garner finished with 11 points. Amelia Uhrig (Chillicothe, Ohio/Unioto) led with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
Tori Sees finished with a double-double for the Student Princes, scoring 10 points and collecting 16 rebounds. 

Marietta returns home for an OAC contest this Saturday (Jan. 17) as they will battle Ohio Northern University.  The contest is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip-off as it will follow the men's basketball matchup at 1 p.m.

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.