MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team played a great first half, only to lose the lead late in the third quarter, but after Marietta hit some big shots and some clutch free throws in the fourth period, they would go on to claim a crucial conference victory over Mount Union, 86-78, on Wednesday (Jan. 28) evening.  Marietta improves to 10-9 on the season and 5-4 in the OAC. The Purple Raiders fall to 13-6 overall and 5-4 in conference games.
 
"Our defense was very good tonight and held them three out of the four quarters," said Marietta head coach Jenna Andersen. "Mount came out strong in that third quarter.  We knew they would because they're a good team.  We regrouped for the final 10 minutes and we gave them everything we had and we hit from the free throw line when we needed to do so.  Very glad that their hard work is paying off and I could not be more proud."
 
Marietta got off to strong start as Emma Rasmussen (Wadsworth, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) buried a pair of three pointers to give the Pioneers an early four-point lead.  Kendall Sury (Waterford, Ohio/Waterford) hit a couple of big layups, on the way to an 11-point quarter to keep the Pioneers out front.  TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) helped the Pioneers to their biggest lead, 12 points, with a consecutive baskets.   Mount Union found some momentum and cut into lead as Reese Triplett scored a layup and then assisted Lily Scott with a three-pointer, cutting the advantage to seven.  Mckayla Dunkle's layup and bonus free throw put the score to within four points, but Sury provided a mid-range jumper and three pointer to give Marietta some room.  The Purple Raiders closed the period going 4-for-4 from the free throw line and only trailed Marietta, 27-23, heading into the second period.
 
Mount Union cut into the deficit in the second quarter as they got a pair of buckets from Triplett early on to get as close as two points.  Marietta answered with yet another trey from Rasmussen and Kelsey Harlan's (Sardis, Ohio/River) jumper at the 6:21 mark extend the advantage back to seven.  In the closing minutes, Marietta got key baskets from Carpenter and Harlan, and Carpenter's jumper with a little more than a minute remaining proved to the final points of the half and Marietta led 47-38 going into halftime.
 
Both teams traded buckets in the early stages of the third quarter, but the Purple Raiders got back into the game with a 7-0 run midway through the period.  Elizabeth Mason's layup cut the Pioneer lead to two. Abby Garner (Macedonia, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) hit from three-point range and then followed with a layup to put the Pioneers back up to a seven-point lead.  Mount Union closed out the final three minutes scoring nine unanswered points, the final basket off of a layup from Chelsea Evanich, and found themselves up 67-66 after three.  
 
Rasmussen again hit from three point range to open the fourth period, putting Marietta back into the lead.  Mount Union tied the score at 69 and 71, and then took a two-point lead after Kayla Ferancy's jumper at the 6:04 mark.  Unfortunately for Mount Union, they would be held scoreless for the next five minutes.  Although Marietta was held scoreless for a bit, Sury tied up the game with a jumper with 2:32 remaining.  The Pioneers then hit six clutch free throw to take a four-point advantage with about a minute left.  After the Raiders cut the lead to a single point, Garner hit a tough layup to keep the Pioneer lead at three and then Marietta closed out the contest going 5-of-6 from the line, clinching the crucial conference victory, 86-78.  
 
Rasmussen led five Pioneers in double figures with 19 points.  Sury finished with 18 points.  Harlan provided 17 points, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line.  Carpenter scored 13 points and collected six rebounds.  Garner scored 12 points and led the Pioneers with nine rebounds.
 
Triplett led the Purple Raiders with 19 points.  Mason and Dunkle each finished with 12 points.
 
Marietta will return to the Ban Johnson Arena this Saturday (Jan. 31) as they host Baldwin Wallace University in the second game of the Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader.   Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. which will follow the men's game following at 1 p.m.
 
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.