Marietta women open hoops season with 77-57 loss to Grove City
Lady Pioneers to play Allegheny Saturday in consolation game at 1 p.m.

Nov. 16, 2007
MEADVILLE, Pa. — Senior guard Justine Pagenhardt (Oakland, Md./Southern Garrett) scored a game-high 25 points, but it was not enough to secure Head Coach Jill Meiring a victory in her Pioneer debut. The Marietta College women's basketball team suffered a 77-57 loss to Grove City (Pa.) College Friday (Nov. 16) night in the opening round of the National City Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by Allegheny College.

A rough first half put Marietta (0-1) into too big of a hole against Grove City (1-0), who advanced to take on Bluffton University in Saturday's championship game. The Beavers defeated the host Gators, 70-56, in the first game of the tournament.

Grove City jumped out to an early lead when Krista Beechy nailed a three-pointer on her team's first possession. The Pioneers took their first lead of the season minutes later when senior Stephanie Dowd's (Willoughby/Willoughby South) layup put Marietta ahead 8-7 with 16:16 to play in the first half. A three-point field goal from junior Nikki Driscoll (Bellaire) extended the Pioneers' advantage to 11-7 4:42 into the game.

The Wolverines then went on an 11-0 run to take a 22-11 lead with 9:44 left in the half. Grove City continued its offensive surge, outscoring Marietta 21-12 during the remainder of the half to take a 43-23 lead into intermission.

The Pioneers shot 9-of-28 (.321) from the floor, including 1-of-8 (.125) from long range, and turned the ball over 14 times in the first half. The Wolverines connected on 17-of-38 (.447) from the field, including 4-of-8 (.500) from beyond the arc, and had seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.

Grove City extended its lead to as many as 24 points and Marietta got no closer than 15 points in the second half, as each team scored 34 points in the final frame to maintain the 20-point difference on the scoreboard.

Marietta shot 11-of-36 (.306) from the field in the final frame and finished 20-of-64 (.313) in the game. The Pioneers, who turned the ball over 19 times in all, went 4-of-20 (.200) from three-point range and 13-of-19 (.684) from the free throw line in the loss. Grove City finished 32-of-73 (.438) from the floor, including 6-of-14 (.429) from long range, to go along with 7-of-12 (.583) from the line. The Wolverines, who had 14 turnovers, out-rebounded the Pioneers 49-41 in the game.

Pagenhardt added three assists and two rebounds to her 25-point effort. Junior Amanda Carraher (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) added seven points and a team-high five assists, while sophomore Jamie Beckett (Wooster/Triway) and Driscoll contributed six points on the night. Dowd and classmate Natalie Jackson (Circleville) both pulled down seven boards in the game.

Four players with double figures paced Grove City. Reann Szelong had 16, Christine Slater had 12, Laura Miller had 11 and C.J. Beatty had 10. Brittany Anderson, who added eight points, led the team in rebounding with nine boards.

Marietta will look to bounce back against host Allegheny Saturday (Nov. 17) afternoon in the consolation game at 1 p.m. Live statistics will be available at http://www.allegheny.edu/athletics/womenbb/live/xlive.htm.