MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team scored 31 points off of Penn State Behrend turnovers as the Pioneers downed the Lions 77-57 Saturday (Nov. 26) in the first round of the 32nd annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot in Ban Johnson Arena.

Marietta improves to 4-1 on the season. The Lions fall to 1-4 overall.

The Pioneers advance to Sunday's 3 p.m. championship game against Bethany College, an 87-61 winner over North Carolina Wesleyan College in the other first round game. Penn State Behrend and North Carolina Wesleyan will meet in the consolation game at 1 p.m.

Amisha Herd led three Pioneers in double figures with 20 points. She just missed the double-double pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Jenna Andersen scored 11 points and grabbed five boards, while Jo Herd-Middlebrooks came of the bench to chip in 10 points and seven rebounds.

While Marietta led for all but a few minutes of the first half, neither team led by more than seven points in the first half. The Pioneers held a slim 16-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter and 35-33 at halftime.

The Pioneers opened the third quarter with a 21-2 run building a commanding 21-point lead, 56-35, with 3:16 left in the period. The Lions managed to trim the deficit by 10 points by the end of the quarter. PSU's Rachael Razzano hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to make it 57-46.

Penn State continued its comeback effort in the fourth quarter and got within seven points, 59-52, on a layup from Erika Woll with 7:36 left in the game. But in a half of big runs, Marietta scored the next 14 points pushing the lead back to 21 points, 73-52, and sealing the victory.

Katie Chess led Penn State Behrend with 16 points and eight rebounds. Heidi Langhorst added 10 points and five boards.

For the game, Marietta shot 46.0% (29-of-63) from the floor, 35.5% (6-of-17) from three-point range and 61.9% (13-of-21) at the free throw line. The Lions were 22-of-55 (40.0%) from the floor, 4-of-13 (30.8%) behind the arc and 9-of-12 (75.0%) at the charity stripe.

Marietta outrebounded Penn State 44-30. The Pioneers forced 19 Lion turnovers and committed 14 of their own.

In the other first round game, Bethany's Hayley Holenka poured in 36 points to lead the Bison over North Carolina Wesleyan. Kelsea Daugherty added 23 points and Maclaine Murad chipped in with 15 points in the winning effort.

The Battling Bishops had four players in double figures led by Alexis Fitzgerald with 15. KeChae Parker scored 13 points, while Tylecia Williams and Nadiya Holley each had 10 points.