MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – It could not have been a better start to the season for the Millersville Marauders at Pucillo Gymnasium, as they soundly defeated the Point Park Pioneers 69-47 in the second game of the Millersville Conference Challenge. The defense stifled the opposition early and the offense came on in the second half to put the game away with time to spare in the fourth quarter.
 
The first basket of the season came from the hand of Makiah Shaw. Grad transfer Kali March followed by opening up her Marauder career with a step back 3 from the far wing. The Marauders owned the first frame, leading by as many as 12 over the visitors. Much of that damage was done in transition, as March and others looked to push it up the court when possible. What made that easier was the 11 Pioneer turnovers that led to seven of the team's 16 first-quarter points. The defense stifled the visitors for much of that initial period, allowing just four points over the first eight minutes.
 
The Marauders extended their advantage to nine at 32-23 going into the half. It was March and Shaw that led the attack early in the third as well as the Marauder defense; twice they turned defense into offense, securing live ball turnovers and converting the easy lay-in at the other end. Shaw tallied six points during that 12-2 Millersville run including a pretty pump fake and drive to the basket from just in front of the nail.
 
Near the end of the third and into the beginning of the fourth, the Pioneers switched from man defense to zone, which stymied the Marauders for a bit. Point Park made inroads into the deficit and eventually cut it to 13 with 7:40 left in the contest. That was as close as they would get, however, as March and Jillian Crawford knocked down consecutive triples to make the margin 19 and essentially put the game on ice.

GAME NOTES

• All 12 rostered Marauders made an appearance in the game, meaning that all four active freshmen were able to make their collegiate debut. Bryn Zentner recorded her first collegiate points on a layup with 8:37 to go in the fourth while Kelly Cleaver did so on a layup with just under 30 seconds remaining.
• The Marauders move to 1-0 all-time against the Pioneers. It's the first matchup in team history as Point Park moved up from Division III beginning this season.

STATISTICAL INSIGHTS

• March led all scorers with 17 points while Shaw followed with 15 of her own. Brenna Ortwein was the only other Marauder to reach double figures and did so quite efficiently, tallying her 13 points on eight shots. Ortwein was one of five Millersville players to tally two steals and Shaw also recorded three blocks. Ortwein also finished with a game-high +27, eight higher than the next closest Marauder. 

POSTGAME REACTION FROM HEAD COACH KIRA MOWEN

• On the first half defense: "I think that we did a great job communicating what we were doing– switching, not switching, etc. I thought we also did a good job, for the most part, of closing out to the shooters and making them put the ball on the floor. I don't know what their turnover number was, but they did have a lot of turnovers as we brought our help to the middle. I thought overall our team defensive line was there in the first half."
• On how they fared against zone: "That is something that we're going to have to sit back and take a look at. Our zone the other day when we played in our scrimmage looked very good. We were moving precisely, moving the ball, swinging it, etc. But today I thought they stymied us a little bit. We were sluggish to move it. We couldn't get our reads right, and just our interior wasn't working in the same unit and line that they should have been in. Kudos to Point Park for throwing that out there; it did slow us down a little bit."

UP NEXT:

• The Marauders are back in action against the Virginia Union Panthers tomorrow, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. That will round out the Millerville Conference Challenge.