BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - Fueled by a career-best performance from Abbey McNally, the Marian women's basketball team coasted to a one-sided road victory Wednesday night as the Knights raced past Olivet Nazarene 110-69. Marian's non-conference win improves the team's overall mark to 5-1 on the season. 

With the jump and gun style of play Olivet Nazarene poses, Marian put points on the board early and gained the double point lead a little over the halfway point. Josie Trabel and Ella Collier each canned a triple to cap of a 16-2 run before Olivet ended the run with a layup. The Knights never let up on the gas as they increased their lead to 18 behind a bucket from Abbey McNally. The Tigers continued to claw back, with both teams going back and forth the remaining minutes of the quarter, but it was Marian holding the 28-10 advantage after the first quarter. 

Olivet came out with the first points of the second quarter, but it was McNally's layup sparking a 12-0 run that was topped off with Olivia Faust knocking down the three-pointer to put the Knights up 40-12. The Tigers were able to find a response after a three ball and a pair of free throws before McNally scored eight of the team's final 10 points of the quarter. McNally poured in 10 of the team's 22 second quarter points, going into the halftime break with 20 points and 16 rebounds, fueling the 50-19 intermission lead.

The recipe was more of the same in the third quarter, as the Knights won the highest scoring quarter of the game 36-22. McNally cooled off her scoring put picked up six points to go with seven rebounds in the quarter, allowing Ella Collier and Kinndiy Garrard to take over. The senior tandem combined for 20 points in the third with each player scoring 10 points, as Jayla Wehner dished out seven assists to the scorers as the lead grew to 45 by the quarter's end. Aliyah Evans and Eva Fisher scored on fast break layups to close the half, as Marian carried an 86-41 lead into the final quarter. 

Marian's offense tapered off in the fourth quarter as the Tigers held a two-basket edge over the Knights, but the reserves kept pace to prevent the game from getting out of hand. Kenna Gray and Taylor Double helped carry the offense in the final quarter, with Gray pouring in eight points in the final period while Double added five. Eva Fisher, Kiley McNally, and Esther Sevilla added to Marian's total in the final period, as Marian was able to cruise to their 110-69 win.

The Knights dominated in the paint throughout the entirety of the game, scoring 70 of their 110 points inside the painted area. 17 of the 110 points came on fast break plays and 18 came off of turnovers, as the effecient Knights shot 55 percent from the floor for the game. McNally poured in a career-best game, dropping 26 points and 23 rebounds for her first career 20-20 game. Kinnidy Garrard finished the game with 22 points and five blocked shots, and Ella Collier had an all-around game scoring 18 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and dishing five assists.

Jayla Wehner finished the game with 11 assists, and Taylor Double scored 11 points to lead the bench scoring. 

The next time Marian will be back in action is Saturday, November 18 when they open Crossroads League play hosting Grace College at 12 p.m. 

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