WILMINGTON, Ohio – Marietta College ended the second quarter on a 13-2 run and rode the double-digit lead to a 55-39 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory over the Wilmington College women's basketball team in Hermann Court on Saturday afternoon.
The Senior Day contest marked the final regular season home game in the careers of both Kennedy Lewis and Brooke Davis.
The Fightin' Quakers opened the game scoring the first seven points as Cassidy Lovett found Lewis for a layup on the first possession and Davis found Kenzie Campbell for a triple on the next possession. Finally, it was Campbell's turn to assist on a basket as she fed a pass to Haley Cook. The Pioneers answered quickly with a 9-0 run of their own, but Jaylah Captain put the hosts back up a point (10-9) with a triple with three minutes to play in the first quarter. Neither team led by more than a basket the rest of the quarter until a wild runner from Devin Heffner fell through at the buzzer.
Wilmington, which trailed 19-15 after 10 minutes, stayed within striking distance in the second quarter as two Kennedy Lewis free throws made the score 24-20 with four minutes to play. Marietta, however, broke the game open with a 13-2 run to end the half capped by a 30-foot triple from Erin Hahn in the final seconds to give the Pioneers a 37-22 halftime lead.
Marietta, which is receiving votes to be ranked in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, opened up a 20-point advantage with seven minutes to play in the third quarter, but a 6-1 Quaker run over the final seven minutes ended a low-scoring quarter with the visitors up 44-30.
A lid seemed to be on the basket for both sides as an Olivia Gribble basket midway through the fourth quarter broke a eight-minute scoring drought for both teams. A three-pointer from Zahrya Bailey midway through the fourth quarter broke the Wilmington scoreless drought, but the hosts wouldn't get within single digits over the final five minutes.
The Pioneers, who average over 70 points per game, were held to 21-of-55 (38.2 percent) from the field and just 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from distance. The Quakers, however, couldn't shoot Marietta out of its zone defense and made 13-of-57 (22.8 percent) from the field and 4-of-25 (16.0 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. The visitors won the battle of the boards 43-36 and held a 22-6 edge in points in the paint.
Heffner was the only individual to score in double figures for both teams with 10 points while Hahn added seven points and seven boards for the Pioneers. Olivia Gribble, Hannah Schill and Kelly Levering also scored at least eight points. For Wilmington, Captain's nine points, all of which came in the first half, led the team. Cook and Lewis both had six points and grabbed five rebounds.
Wilmington will close out its 2021-22 season with road contests next week at Otterbein University and John Carroll University.
