SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Millersville Marauders returned to action after a week off and dismantled the host Shippensburg Raiders 61-29 Wednesday evening. Millersville outscored Shippensburg 40–13 in the second half including a 13-minute stretch that the visitors won 28–4.
 
All in all, the Raiders were held to 11-of-51 from the field, a mark of 21.6%. That represents a season-best for the Marauders, besting the 25% that they held the Raiders to in their last matchup on Jan. 3. It was also the fewest points allowed by Millersville in nearly two decades; the last time the 'Ville held a team below 29 points was on Jan. 31, 2009, when they routed Mansfield 58-26.
 
"Kudos to our girls," Marauders head coach Kira Mowen said of the defensive effort postgame. "We are driven by our defense and that's true even in games that are closer. I'm proud of them and I'm happy that we were able to hold them (Shippensburg). Our defense usually leads our offense, so when we have good defensive nights, our offense usually clicks. It's just getting down, getting dirty, and being very gritty defensively. That's what we're preaching and that's what we've been preaching since day one of the season."
 
The score differential led to some gaudy plus/minus numbers for a few Marauders. Kali March led both teams with 19 points and racked up a +32; part of that was because of her four steals and five assists. Brenna Ortwein was a +28 and finished with nine points, eight rebounds and two takeaways. Makiah Shaw was the only Marauder in addition to March to reach double figures, and her 10 points and four boards led to a +27.
 
The Marauders' offense struggled to get going before half, but the defense was as impenetrable as ever, leading to a 21–16 advantage heading into the break. That difference ballooned quickly after the stoppage as Millersville's offense got going. The score was 24–18 with 8:13 to go after the teams traded a few baskets to begin the third. Around 13 minutes later, the game was over, as their lead was now 52-20 with 5:28 remaining in the game.
 
"I did kind of rip them at half," Mowen said of her halftime talk.  "Our expectations were not being met at half, and I challenged them. To only be up five at half, I thought that we needed to be better. They got a good talking to about what it needed to look like in the third and fourth quarter and they performed, they came out, and did just that."
 
The Marauders look to build on this blowout victory when they travel to East Stroudsburg for a rematch with the Warriors on Feb. 8 at 1 p.m.