MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — A 32-5 Marauder run over the game's first 11 minutes put the contest out of reach early on as Millersville defeated the visiting University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown 76-38 Saturday afternoon. Every Marauder scored in the victory while Kali March and Bryn Zentner led the team with 12 and 14 points, respectively.
 
It was a second consecutive hot start from the Marauders, who started yesterday's loss to No. 11 Seton Hill on a 12-0 run before the fouls started to pile up. Today, Millersville went up 12-5 and continued that domination for the rest of the game. The hosts had their longest uninterrupted scoring run of the season in the 4:44 following that 12-5 lead, going 9-of-11 from the field and tallying 20 straight points. They played a complete half of basketball, committing just six turnovers while holding the Mountain Cats to 30.8% from the field and converting their own shots at a season-best 54.8% clip. Millersville head coach Kira Mowen said that the team used yesterday's narrow defeat as motivation for today's game.
 
"After yesterday's loss, I and the team felt that we needed to show people what we were actually made of," Mowen said postgame. "Offensively, we really looked to push the pace on them, but we could do that because our defense got stops. So I was extremely happy that we took last night's loss as motivation and used it against UPJ today."
 
Not only did the hosts own the transition game, but the Marauders successfully navigated the Mountain Cat's zone defense in the halfcourt. Zone was something that had slowed them down in previous games, as they put up their best effort against a zone this season with a season-low 16 total turnovers and a remarkable 53.4% on shots from the field. Three-point threats Jillian Crawford and Sophia Elstone each connected from outside and March took advantage of the extra space as well with two triples of her own.
 
"The skip passes to the opposite side were open," Mowen said of how her team attacked the Pitt-Johnstown defense. "We were able to find the open person. They trapped us in the corners but our ability to get the ball to our post players and then work out of it was something that we were paying attention to and tried to focus on after half. I thought we did a great job of getting that done."
 
Freshman Kelly Cleaver had the most impactful game of her young career, finishing one board short of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Fellow rookie Claire Watson scored the first basket of her career with a layup in the game's final minutes. As a team, it was the largest margin of victory in Mowen's season and a half at the helm; it was also the biggest win by the Marauders against a Division II opponent since they beat Wilmington (Del.) 94-56 on Nov. 12, 2012.

The decisive victory was a fitting way to honor the alumni in attendance as well as special guest Mary Fleig. Fleig, the head coach of Millersville women's basketball for a record 30 seasons and a 2024 Millersville Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, was honored postgame with a brief ceremony for her contributions to the program and university.
 
"I think Coach Fleig put Millersville women's basketball on the map," Mowen said of the Marauder legend.  "I mean, she spent 30 years here and had countless championships and NCAA tournament appearances. You don't build a culture over 30 years and not have great alumni support and not leave it for the next couple coaches coming in. Without her leading the way, we wouldn't have the program we do today. She did a great job, and she's a member of this roster forever and a great alum; I'm glad that we can continue to honor her and ensure that people know who she is and how she represents Millersville so well."
 
The Marauders have nearly a week off before traveling to Philadelphia to take on the #18 Jefferson Rams. Tip-off is scheduled for Dec.13 at 5:30 p.m.