Marietta women's basketball opens season with 48-47 win at Thiel
Carraher hits late three pointer to give Pioneers lead for good

Nov. 18, 2008
GREENVILLE, Pa. — Senior guard Amanda Carraher (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) hit her only three-pointer of the game with just over one minute to play to help second-year Head Coach Jill Meiring’s Marietta College women’s basketball team pull out a 48-47 victory over host Thiel College on Tuesday (Nov. 18) night in the Pioneers’ season opener.

Marietta won its season opener for the first time since defeating N.C. Wesleyan, 50-44, in 2004-05.The Pioneers’ win also avenged a 79-62 loss to the Tomcats (1-1) in the first round of the 2007 Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot Tournament and evened the all-time series at three wins apiece.

Both teams struggled offensively in the game. Marietta finished 19-of-65 (.292) from the field while hitting just 3-of-19 (.158) from beyond the arc and 7-of-15 (.467) from the line. Thiel shot 19-of-57 (.333) from the field, including 3-of-10 (.300) from long range, and went 6-of-10 (.600) from the charity stripe. The Pioneers turned 24 Tomcat turnovers into 18 points, while their 18 giveaways turned into just eight points for the home team.

Marietta had just four small leads in the game. The first came after junior post Jamie Beckett (Wooster/Triway) hit a jumper to momentarily give the Pioneers an 8-7 lead seven minutes into the game. Thiel regained the advantage on its next possession and took a 24-22 lead into intermission.

The Tomcats stretched their lead to eight points, 37-29, with 13:52 to play in the contest. The Pioneers, however, went on a 14-4 run over the next eight minute to take their second lead of the night, 43-41. Again, the lead was short lived, as Thiel went back ahead on its next possession. The Pioneers regained the lead 45-44, with four minute to play only for the Tomcats to grab it back moments later. It was not until Carraher’s three-pointer with less than two minutes to play that Marietta was able to take the lead for good, 48-47. Both teams went scoreless the rest of the game and the Pioneers escaped with the one-point win.

Senior point guard Nikki Driscoll (Bellaire) led Marietta’s attack with 11 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Freshman wing Brooke Baker (Wheelersburg) scored 10 points and had six rebounds in her Pioneer debut. Carraher added nine points and four assists, while Beckett and freshman post Chelsea Drake (Georgetown) both contributed five points in the win. In addition, Beckett had a team-best nine rebounds in the win.

Amber Jenae Bodrick led Thiel with 10 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks, while Catie Seiber also had 14 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Marietta is back in action on Friday (Nov. 21) afternoon when it opens play at the Mount St. Joseph’s Tip-off Tournament with a match-up against the host Lions at 3 p.m. The Pioneers will then take on either Maryville (Tenn.) or Olivet (Mich.) on Saturday (Nov. 22) afternoon. There will be Live statistics available for both games.

Senior Amanda Carraher and the Pioneers defeated Thiel 48-47 on Tuesday.

Box Score