WILMINGTON, Del. — A trip to Delaware was what the schedule had in store for the Millersville Marauders after nearly a week off. They visited the Goldey-Beacom Lightning on Monday evening and pulled out the 70-68 victory after trailing for most of the second half.
 
Both teams struggled offensively to open the game, as the score after the first 10 minutes was 9-7 in favor of the visitors. The Marauders kept the Lightning scoreless for the first four minutes and prevented them from making a field goal through the first eight minutes; they were were held to 0/11 before sinking a layup with 2:03 remaining.
 
Millersville's offense woke up in the second quarter and put some distance between the two teams entering half. Key to that was the shooting of Kali March, who drained her first two threes of the frame to extend the lead to 15-7, giving the visitors some breathing room. They would keep the margin around seven for most of the period and went into the locker rooms with a halftime lead of 31-24.
 
As bad as the Lightning offense was in the first quarter, they made up for it in the third. Goldey-Beacom turned the tables on the Marauders, going nine of nine from the field to start the period and take a 48-39 lead with 4:34 to go. Six of the nine shots were threes and all in all it was a 24-8 run over just under five minutes. Brenna Ortwein answered that right back with a layup and the Marauders started their comeback.
 
It took 13 minutes of game time, but Millersville did come all the way back eventually, tying it up on a Morgan Mahoney layup with 1:50 left in the game. On the other end, the Marauders forced a miss on a jumpshot with stout defense and looked to take the lead. Millersville had four attempts at the basket on that possession, two of those courtesy of a Sophia Elstone offensive rebound. The final shot was a March three pointer that found the bottom of the net and gave Millersville the lead. Goldey-Beacom answered with a three-pointer on its next possession and the game was leveled at 66.  Marauders head coach Kira Mowen used a timeout to organize her team and Makiah Shaw nailed a jumper out of the stoppage to take the lead.  There were 16 seconds left to go after her shot and Goldey-Beacom got it up quickly, missing a layup with 12 to go. Elstone again came up clutch with back to back free throws to ice the game after that and the visitors made it out alive with a 70-68 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Millersville holds a pristine 9-2 record against Goldey-Beacom in the all-time series. The Marauders have won their last three against the Lightning dating back to 2022.
• This is the Marauders' last non-conference opponent before opening its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) slate against California (Pa.) and Slippery Rock this weekend.

STATISTICAL INSIGHTS

• Ortwein continues her hot start to the season scoring the basketball with 16 points on 7/10 shooting in this game. After averaging 4.4 points per contest last year, she's canning 14.3 points per game this season.
• In addition to the go-ahead basket, Shaw had an exceptionally efficient evening, scoring her 15 points on 7/9 from the field. She's leading the team with 16 points per game on 59% from the field so far in 2024-25.

POST GAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH KIRA MOWEN

• On the first quarter struggles: "The more we play with each other, the better it should get.  We are starting fresh with a new point guard, so once we get cohesion between all five players on the floor, we will be better, but that will take some time."
• On the team entering conference play: "We are looking forward to getting on the road and having a weekend together. I will have them ready as a team for California and Slippery Rock. Continuing to stick together like we have been doing is what is rewarding and what I'm looking forward to as we go forward."

UP NEXT:

• The Marauders continue their road trip and enter conference play against California (Pa.). That clash with the Vulcans is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22.