Marietta College’s Ava Heller (4) goes up for a shot during Saturday’s game against Wilmington at Ban Johnson Arena. (Photo by Rebecca Wheeler)

The Marietta College women’s basketball team combined a strong shooting performance with a stifling defensive effort and never trailed, defeating Wilmington, 87-47, Saturday afternoon at the Ban Johnson Arena.

Marietta improves to 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Wilmington falls to 4-8 on the season and 1-2 in the OAC.

“We just got off to a great start today,” said Marietta head coach Jenna Andersen. “That’s something that we have been emphasizing lately, getting off to a great start and putting ourselves in a good position. We knew we had to be aggressive and raise our level of intensity. We knew we could run on Wilmington, but getting the defensive pressure that we got this afternoon was great to see. Things are starting to click.”

Marietta jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first three minutes of the contest, capped off by a basket and bonus free throw by Ava Heller. Later in the period, Marietta went on a 11-2 run, fueled by five steals that turned into six points. After one quarter, the Pioneers had a commanding 23-12 lead.

The Quakers managed to get the first bucket of the second quarter, but the Pioneers extended the lead with another large run. Marietta scored nine straight points, four from Heller, to push the lead to 18 points. After Wilmington hit a pair of free throws, the Pioneers answered with a 20-4 run, fueled by five points from Kelsey Harlan and four consecutive baskets from Heller. Although Wilmington scored the only basket in the final minute of the half, the Pioneers were still very much in the lead and took a 52-22 advantage into halftime.Marietta did not let up in the third quarter, going on an 8-2 run and collecting another four steals in the first three minutes. Sophie Nelson nailed a three-pointer at the 5:02 mark to give the Pioneers their largest lead at that point, 37 points. Kendall Sury scored a layup after making yet another steal and the Pioneers led 70-33 going into in the final quarter.

Sury opened the fourth quarter with a layup and TJ Carpenter followed with a three pointer and the Pioneer lead was too much to overcome. Marietta claimed their first conference victory of the season, 87-47.

Heller led the Pioneers with 20 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field. Nelson came off the bench to finish with 13 points. Harlan scored 11 points, dished out three assists, and had three steals. Sury scored 10 points and led the Pioneers with seven rebounds and six steals.

Wilmington’s Stephanie Atlstaetter led the Quakers with 10 points and six rebounds.

Marietta next travels to the University of Mount Union for a conference bout on Wednesday, scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

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A furious second half comeback fell short as Marietta College lost to visiting Wilmington College, 85-77, Saturday afternoon in Ban Johnson Arena.

The loss drops Marietta to 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Quakers improve to 6-6 on the season and 2-1 in the OAC.

Marietta College missed its first seven shots of the game and quickly fell behind 12-1. The Pioneers’ shooting woes continued throughout the first half as Marietta converted just 35% of its shots from the floor.

While the Pioneers were struggling to put the ball in the basket, Wilmington sank 59% of its shot attempts in the first half and built a 23-point lead. Domenic Farley drained a three-pointer with 5:23 left in the opening period to make it 39-16 in favor of the Quakers. Marietta trimmed the deficit to 18 points and trailed 48-30 at halftime.

Wilmington maintained its lead through the first eight minutes of the second half. Ben Golan hit one of two free throws with 11:49 left in the game for a 63-43 Quaker lead.

Marietta went on a 19-3 run over the next five minutes cutting the Wilmington lead to just four points, 66-62. Jake Singleton triggered the run with a three-pointer. Singleton scored eight of Marietta’s points in the spurt.

Elijah Harden hit a three-pointer to get the Pioneers within two, 74-72. Following a Quaker miss and a foul, Mason Wisniewski went to the line with a chance to tie the game. Wisniewski hit one of two free throws making it a one-point game.

Wilmington never relinquished the lead as the Quakers got back-to-back tip-ins by Carson Miles and Izaiah Cathey. Cathey drew a foul on his and converted the free throw for an 81-77 lead. The Quakers made four free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Marietta’s free throw shooting problems were costly. The Pioneers shot just 59.5% from the line.

Wisnieski had a double-double to lead the Pioneers with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Singleton scored 15 points, while Harden added 13 points and Trenton Collins finished with 11 points.

Farley scored 23 points to lead the Quakers. Elijah Cathey scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Izaiah Cathey finished with 13 points and seven boards.

Marietta hosts No. 9 Mount Union on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.