Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
Before Marietta College’s winter break, the women’s basketball team were 4-5. Now the team is above .500 largely due to their active four game winning streak. Right now the Pioneers are 9-7 with a 4-3 record in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Marietta has nine straight OAC games left to end the season, as they play every Wednesday and Saturday through February.
After losing by one point to Capital University, the Pios faced their fourth ranked opponent of the season, this time being fellow OAC member #21 Baldwin Wallace. In Berea, the lady Pios were able to hold the lead at the half 30-29. This lead was short lived as a few consecutive layups later; the Yellow Jackets were in charge. The result would be a 62-51 loss for the Pioneers.
In their last home game before Christmas Day, the Pioneers struggled. The Otterbein Cardinals scored first and never gave up their lead as Marietta College lost again. This time 64-44 was the final score.
The Pios came back to the court on December 30th on the road at Wittenberg University. Wittenberg originally held an early lead of 19-16, until Senior Sophie Nelson hit two straight three pointers for a 24-19 Pioneer lead. The Pios did not surrender the lead for the rest of the game and won 60-52 to end the year.
To start 2026, the Pioneers hosted Wilmington College and had their strongest performance yet. In front of nearly a thousand the Pioneers put up their largest margin of victory over the Quakers. They beat the Quakers 87-47 and achieved their first OAC win of the season.
On a road trip, the Pioneers went to overtime for the first time all year. Against Mount Union, the Pioneers opened up strong, as they maintained their lead into the half 36-24. However, in the second half, the Purple Raiders closed the gap and with seven minutes left they were able to nearly tie the game 50-49. The Raiders continued as with five minutes left, they took the lead. The game came down to the last second, as with the clock ticking its final seconds Kelsey Harlan drained a three pointer to tie it all 63-63.
In overtime, Mount Union struck first. Fortunately, Harlan responded by scoring six straight points. Amelia Uhrig added to the Pioneers lead and helped them secure the win in OT 76-70.
Marietta continued their winning streak on their road trip this time securing a win over Heidelberg University. Marietta had another dominant performance, as the Student Princes have struggled this season. Marietta walked away with a 84-46 victory.
Yesterday, the Pioneers hosted the Ohio Northern Polar Bears and were able to squeeze past them and extend their streak to five games. At the half the Pios led 25-24, however the Bears quickly tied up the game once regulation resumed. The contest stayed close until the closing minutes when Marietta went on a run and scoring ten straight points. This offensive run helped secure them a 64-55 win and improve their record to 9-7 on the year.
Next week, the Pioneers face Muskingum University on the road on Wednesday January 21st at 7:00 p.m. Their next home game is Saturday January 24th. It’ll be a rematch versus Capital with tipoff set for 3:00 p.m.
