Marietta Women Beat B-W, 70-64, to End 33-Game Losing Streak to the Yellow Jackets

Box Score | Updated Season Statistics

MARIETTA, OHIO  – Junior forward Aleisha Guiler scored a game-high 19 points and six as the Marietta College women's basketball team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Baldwin-Wallace College, 70-64, today (Saturday, December 3, 2011) at the Ban Johnson Fieldhouse.  The Marietta win ended a 33-game losing streak against the Yellow Jackets that dated back to December 19, 1994.

With their win, Marietta improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the OAC. In addition to Guiler, freshman forward Heather Booth had 13 points and junior point guard Kristeva Rowe had 10.  For B-W, now 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC, junior All-OAC forward Jessica Carpenter (North Canton/ Hoover) and sophomore forward Jessica Lairson (Louisville/ Senior) each had 14 points and freshman guard Audrey Smolik (Strongsville) had 10.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the 18:16 mark when Capenter scored on a drive to the basket. B-W then gained a 4-1 lead before the Pioneers tied it at 4-4 at 16:18 when Rowe made a three-pointer.

After the game was tied at 6-6 and 8-8, Marietta gained its first lead at 10-8 with 13:02 when sophomore guard Paige Lamb made a layup. Then, following six lead changes, B-W junior point guard Rachel Rossman (Olmsted Falls) made one of two foul shots at 8:38 to tie it again at 16-16.

The Pioneers regained the lead at 18-16 at the 8:13 when Guiler made a pair of foul shots. Undaunted, B-W tied it at 18-18 on a Carpenter layup and then took a 21-18 lead when she made a three-pointer at 7:08. MC then outscored B-W 5-2 to tie it at again 23-23 when Guiler made a jumper at 5:59.

After the game was tied at 25-25, B-W scored four of the next five points and took a 29-26 lead at the 2:47 mark when Lairson made a jumper.  Two seconds before halftime, the Pioneers fouled Carpenter who made both one-and-one foul shots to give the Yellow Jackets a 33-29 advantage at the intermission.

Lairson started the second half by making a pair of foul shots at 19:36 to give the Yellow Jackets their largest lead at 35-29. Guiler continued to keep the Pioneers in the game when she nailed a triple at 18:15 to cut the lead to three points at 35-32. But baskets by Lairson at 17:52 and junior forward Nancy Coulter (Washington Court House/ Miami Trace) at 17:12 pushed the lead to seven points at 39-32.

Marietta then scored the next six points to cut the lead to 39-38 at 14:23 when Lamb made a rebound. B-W freshman point guard Shari Mangas (Leipsic) ended the drought when she made one of two foul shots for a 40-38 lead at 14:04. But the Pioneers came right back to tie it at 40-40 and 42-42 and took the lead at 45-42 at 12:36 when sophomore guard Tori Dixon canned a trey.

Marietta built its largest lead at 50-42 when Rowe scored on a layup at 9:56, was fouled and completed the traditional three-point play when she made the subsequent free throw.  Smolik ended the latest drought when she canned a jumper at 9:44 to close to 50-44.

A Lamb foul shot at 8:34 put the lead back at seven points at 51-44 and a Booth rebound and basket advanced the lead to nine at 53-44 with 7:56 left.  B-W would get as close as 55-51 with 6:14 left when sophomore forward Lexi Rohrbach (Tiffin/ Columbian) made two foul shots. Marietta's biggest lead was 62-51 with 5:04 left when Guiler made a pair of foul shots.

B-W then outscored the Pioneers 9-1 to close to 63-60 with 1:49 left when Carpenter made a driving layup. Following a Rowe free throw at 1:23 to make the score 64-60, B-W senior forward Catherine Spisak (Sandusky/ St. Mary's Central Catholic) made one of two foul shots at 1:00 to close the lead back to three at 64-61.

The game then became a free throw shooting contest.  Rowe gave the Pioneers a five-point lead at 66-61 when she made two foul shots with 58 seconds left. With 49 seconds left, Carpenter made one of two foul shots to close the gap to 66-62. With 46 seconds left, Dixon made a pair to make the score 68-62. With 34 seconds left, Spisak scored on a layup to make it 68-64. With 26 seconds left, freshman guard Jessica Brogan made one of two foul shots to make the score 69-64 and "ice" the game.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 7 when they host Heidelberg University in an OAC game in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.