MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball squad outplayed visiting Capital University for 30 minutes Wednesday (Feb. 16) night inside Ban Johnson Arena. Unfortunately, the Crusaders owned the final 10 minutes of play and mounted a 16-point come from behind victory, 66-60 over Marietta. [Box Score]

Marietta (8-16, 4-13 OAC) dominated the early phases of Wednesday night's game, pushing its lead to as many 17 points, 30-13 with 4:47 to play in the first half. Capital (15-8, 10-7 OAC) was able to re group a bit before halftime, but found itself trailing 36-23 at intermission.

Capital cut the lead down to 10 points, 43-33 with 13:25 to play in regulation before Marietta responded with an 8-2 run to push the advantage back to 16, 51-35, with 9:15 left in the second period. Capital then hit its stride when it mattered most in the waning minutes of regulation. The Crusaders exploded for 31 points in the final 9:15 of play while Marietta only managed nine points in that time. Capital finally regained the lead 57-56 with 2:23 to play following a pair of Tara Harper free throws. The Crusaders then converted late from the charity stripe to hold on for the 66-60 victory.

Sophomore post Aleisha Guiler (Lower Salem/Monroe Central) led all scorers with 21 points and tied a game-high with 15 rebounds. The Pioneers' lone senior Mallory Hoff (Newport/Frontier), who was honored before tip-off, added 13 points and matched Guiler on the boards with 15 while also recording four blocks on the night. Freshman guard Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County) added 11 points and five assists, while sophomore Kristeva Rowe (Toledo/Sylvania Southview) chipped in with 10 points and three steals.

Rebekah Will paced Capital with 17 points and six boards. Stacy Zimmerman scored 15 points and caromed five rebounds, while Hilary Kuhns added 13 points and a team-high eight boards.

Marietta finished the game shooting 33.3% (21-of-63) from the field, 30% (6-of-20) from three and 63.2% (12-of-19) from the charity stripe. Capital shot 35.1% (20-of-57) from the field, 37.5% (3-of-8) from three and 67.6% (23-of-34) from the free throw line. Marietta held a small edge on the boards 47-46 but committed 20 turnovers to Capital's 18.

The loss ended the Pioneers' chance at making next week's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. Marietta will close out the season on Saturday (Feb. 19) afternoon at John Carroll. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.