Oakland City, Ind. - The Marian women's basketball team notched their ninth consecutive win Tuesday night in southern Indiana, taking down Oakland City by a 76-63 final score. Ella Collier poured in a game-high 25 points in Marian's win, as they move to 11-1 on the season.

Marian's wire-to-wire win started out with an effective first quarter, as they raced to an 14-4 lead within the first three minutes of the game. The Knights' defense led to offense as they forced three early turnovers, but Oakland City would find a response over the next three minutes as they charged back within a single point. A layup from Aliyah Evans with 3:50 to play in the opening quarter helped end the 9-0 run for the Mighty Oaks, putting Marian back in control. The Knights would score the final six points of the first quarter as their defense came back to form, leading 20-13 after one quarter.

A three-point make from Tamia Perryman on Marian's first possession of the second quarter pushed their lead back to double-digits, and started a one-sided quarter as they held a 19-10 advantage over the second 10 minutes of play. Marian held the Mighty Oaks scoreless for the first four minutes of the second period, and three point makes from Olivia Faust and Ella Collier helped Marian take a comfortable 39-23 lead going into halftime.

In the third quarter Marian came out in charge and pushed their lead to 17 in the first three minutes behind scores from Sara Majorosova and Kinnidy Garrard, but were unable to stack their lead as Oakland City matched the scoring. The Mighty Oaks used a 5-0 sprint in the quarter to get back within 10 points, and continued to trade points with Marian over the final three minutes of the stanza to stay within striking distance. A pair of foul shots from Abbey McNally in the waning seconds helped Marian hold a 58-48 lead going into the fourth quarter, with the Mighty Oaks still aiming to mount a comeback.

Oakland City continued to battle with Marian as the fourth quarter started, answering jumpers scored by Allison Bosse and Ella Collier to reach within eight points. The Mighty Oaks would commit a shooting foul on Collier with 6:18 to play in the game, turning the game back in favor of Marian as the senior knocked down both shots and sparked a 9-1 run that last just over three minutes of game time. Marian's defense limited their opposition to zero makes from the floor in the run on five attempts, as they pulled away and put the game to rest. An open layup on a full-court pass from Aliyah Evans and free throws from Collier helped the Knights ride out the win, as they ended the game on top 76-63.

Collier ended the game with a game-high 25 points, adding seven rebounds to her stat line for the game. Abbey McNally scored 13 points and added 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the campaign. Bosse and Garrard finished the game nine points each, and Perryman and Evans combined for 13 of the team's 16 bench points.

The Knights will return to action after the Christmas holiday, sitting idle for 11 days before their final non-conference game of the regular season when they travel to Concordia (Mich.). The tip-off in Ann Arbor will be set for 1:00 p.m. when the schedule resumes on December 30.

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