MARIETTA, Ohio — Freshman guard Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County) scored a career-high 22 points, but the Marietta College women's basketball team dropped its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener to rival Muskingum University 69-61 Wednesday (Dec. 1) night. inside Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers fell to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the OAC, while the Muskies improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league play. [Box Score]

Dixon was the only Pioneer in double figures Wednesday night. The freshman connected on four of her seven three-point attempts and went a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Sophomore post Aleisha Guiler (Lower Salem/Monroe Central) chipped in with nine points while grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds. Junior wing Rachel Jones (Dublin/Coffman) and senior post Mallory Hoff (Newport/Frontier) also added nine points in the loss.

Hannah Oakley led Muskingum with 22 points and a team-high six rebounds. Amanda Dobbins added 15 points to go along with her four rebounds for the Muskies.

Muskingum led from start to finish as the visiting team would double up the home team 20-10 with 9:03 to go before intermission.  The Muskies kept the lead in double figures for most of the first stanza and it went into halftime leading 36-23.

The lead stayed in double figures for the beginning stages of the second half. Marietta fought back with an 8-0 run in just 1:13 to cut the Muskingum lead to 50-45 with 8:03 to go in regulation. The Pioneer brought the lead down to three twice in the waning minutes but could get no closer and the Muskies held on for the 69-61 victory.

The Pioneers finished the game shooting 20-of-47 (42.6%) from the field, 5-of-15 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 16-of-22 (72.7%) from the free throw line. Muskingum shot 26-of-67 (38.8%) from the field, 1-of-13 (7.7%) from three-point range and 16-of-26 (72.7%) from the free throw line.  The Muskies held the edge on the glass 43-36 and committed 19 turnovers to Marietta's 25.

The Pioneers are back in action when they play host to visiting Otterbein University Saturday (Dec. 11) afternoon at Fenton Court. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.