MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team combined a strong shooting performance with a stifling defensive effort and never trailed, defeating Wilmington College, 87-47, Saturday (Jan. 3) afternoon at the Ban Johnson Arena.  Marietta improves to 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Wilmington falls to 4-8 on the season and 1-2 in the OAC.

"We just got off to a great start today," said Marietta head coach Jenna Andersen. "That's something that we have been emphasizing lately, getting off to a great start and putting ourselves in a good position. We knew we had to be aggressive and raise our level of intensity. We knew we could run on Wilmington, but getting the defensive pressure that we got this afternoon was great to see. Things are starting to click."
 
Marietta jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first three minutes of the contest, capped off by a basket and bonus free throw by Ava Heller (Thornville, Ohio/Sheridan).  Later in the period, Marietta went on a 11-2 run, fueled by five steals that turned into six points. After one quarter, the Pioneers had a commanding 23-12 lead.
 
The Quakers managed to get the first bucket of the second quarter, but the Pioneers extended the lead with another large run.  Marietta scored nine straight points, four from Heller, to push the lead to 18 points. After Wilmington hit a pair of free throws, the Pioneers answered with a 20-4 run, fueled by five points from Kelsey Harlan (Sardis, Ohio/River) and four consecutive baskets from Heller.  Although Wilmington scored the only basket in the final minute of the half, the Pioneers were still very much in the lead and took a 52-22 advantage into halftime.

Marietta did not let up in the third quarter, going on an 8-2 run and collecting another four steals in the first three minutes.  Sophie Nelson (Parkersburg, W.Va./Ritchie County) nailed a three-pointer at the 5:02 mark to give the Pioneers their largest lead at that point, 37 points.  Kendall Sury (Waterford, Ohio/Waterford) scored a layup after making yet another steal and the Pioneers led 70-33 going into in the final quarter.  
 
Sury opened the fourth quarter with a layup and TJ Carpenter (Jackson, Ohio/Jackson) followed with a three pointer and the Pioneer lead was too much to overcome.  Marietta claimed their first conference victory of the season, 87-47.
 
Heller led the Pioneers with 20 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field.  Nelson came off the bench to finish with 13 points.  Harlan scored 11 points, dished out three assists, and had three steals.  Sury scored 10 points and led the Pioneers with seven rebounds and six steals. 
 
Wilmington's Stephanie Atlstaetter led the Quakers with 10 points and six rebounds. 

Marietta next travels to the University of Mount Union for a conference bout on Wednesday (Jan. 7), scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.  

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.