Despite being picked to finish last and posting a 1-8 record through the first portion of Ohio Athletic Conference play, the Marietta Pioneers are not a team to be taken lightly Saturday. Marietta led Capital for the majority of their loss Wednesday, and played toe-to-toe with Wilmington in the first meeting.  

"They are a quality opponent that gave us everything we wanted (in the last meeting)," said head coach Jerry Scheve. "They played us dead even, and we will have to play better tomorrow. Marietta is a well-balanced team and is a strong team."

Wilmington earned the 66-61 victory in a game in which both teams were 22-of-54 from the field and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Lady Quakers won the game by virtue of shooting 18-of-30 from the foul line, while Marietta was 13-of-25. Marietta's leading scorer Heather Booth scored a team-high 14 points in just 18 minutes.

Senior Brianna Peters (Alexandria, KY/Campbell County) was the only Lady Quaker in double digits with 17 points. Junior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) added eight points in the win.

The game pits the two lowest scoring teams in the OAC with Wilmington ninth at 60.7 points and Marietta last at 58.6. Defense is where the two teams differ as the Lady Quakers are allowing 64.1 and Marietta yields 68.3 points, good for sixth and last, respectively.

However, Scheve hasn't been pleased with his team's defensive execution during the three-game losing streak. Wilmington was allowing 62.1 points per game prior to the recent skid. The Lady Quakers surrendered 73.0 points over that stretch.

"We have to pick up our defensive intensity," said Scheve. "We haven't been playing well on the defensive end the last couple of games. We will need more energy on defense."