The defensive effort was need to fight off a Marietta (3-15, 1-10 OAC) squad that out-rebounded the Purple Raiders, 42-28 and got a game-high 31 points and 10 rebounds from freshman Aleisha Guiler.

Mount Union won its fourth game in a row and improved to 16-2 overall and remains a game out of first place at 9-2 in the OAC.  Freshman Rosa LaMattina (Westlake/Westlake) scored 13 of her season-high 18 points in the second half to go along with four assists and four steals and junior Lauren Forquer (North Canton/Green) went a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line as part of a 14 point, six rebound effort to lead the Purple Raiders.

Everything started off well for the Raiders as they hit five of their first nine shots including a Katie Crider (Brunswick/Brunswick) three pointer to lead 16-7 just six minutes into the game.  Mount Union would then score just eight points over the next 12 minutes and Marietta would get back into the game tying things up at 24 with 2:35 left in the half.  The Raiders would score the final five points of the period to lead 29-24 at the half.

Marietta would rally to tie the game again at 34 with 13:28 remaining. Mount Union had a 40-38 lead with 9:30 and would go on an 11-3 run capped by a pair of Brittany Kilgore (Northfield/Nordonia) free throws to give the Raiders their largest lead of the game, 52-41 with 3:48 left.  Mount Union would go on to the 63-55 final.

The Purple Raiders go back on the road traveling to Wilmington for a key OAC matchup Saturday at 3 pm.

NOTES - Lauren Forquer's 12-for-12 performance from the free throw line was the most consecutive free throws in a game since Stephanie Gianni hit an OAC record 15-of-15 in a game against Ohio Northern during the 2003-04 season.