Case Western Reserve University senior guard/ forward Abbey Lawrence scored a game-high 23 points, and sophomore forward Kayla Characklis added 15 points and nine rebounds, but it was not enough for the Spartans, who suffered a 77-70 loss in an upset bid against undefeated Marietta College at Horsburgh Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.

The loss dropped the Spartans to 3-6 overall on the season. Marietta, which received votes in this week's WBCA Top-25, improved to 5-0 following the victory.

Lawrence finished the game shooting nine-of-17 overall to notch her sixth effort of 20 or more points through nine games this season. She added five rebounds, a team-high four assists, two blocks and two steals. In addition to her near double-double, Characklis also tallied five blocks in the game, marking the second time in the team's last three games she has blocked at least five shots. Sophomore guard Margaret Terry scored 10 points with three assists and a pair of steals.

A 9-2 run for the Pioneers to open the game put the Spartans in an early hole, but CWRU battled back with a quick 6-0 spurt, including a layup by Terry with 5:37 in the first period that pulled CWRU back within a point, 9-8. Marietta remained in the lead until the 3:04 mark, when a jumper by Lawrence turned a one-point deficit into a one-point lead, 15-14. The two teams continued to go back-and-forth for the remainder of the opening period, with Marietta taking a 22-21 lead after the end of the first stanza.

CWRU quickly regained the lead on an and-one by Characklis to give the Spartans a 24-22 edge with 8:33 left in the half. With a two-point lead and 3:31 to play in the second quarter, went on a 10-2 run, including seven points from Lawrence during the stretch, to go up by 10 points, 44-34, with 40 seconds remaining in the period, and took an eight-point lead, 44-36, into the break.

The Spartans shot an efficient 53.8% from the floor in the first half, and were led by 15 points from Lawrence and 10 from Terry over the opening 20 minutes of play.

However, after the Spartans held the Pioneers to just two threes on 14 attempts in the opening half, Marietta heated up from long range in the second half, connecting on seven-of-13 attempts (53.8%), including three in the first four minutes of the third that turned an eight-point deficit into a 47-46 lead for the Pioneers by the 6:03 mark. The teams continued to exchange leads throughout the third, before a three-pointer with seconds remaining in the period gave Marietta a 57-54 lead going into the fourth.

Another three by the Pioneers to start the final period put them ahead 60-54, but a quick 7-0 run by CWRU, including a pair of layups by Lawrence and a three from first-year guard/ forward Lucy Vanderbeck, put the Spartans back ahead 61-60 with 8:11 to play. However, Marietta answered with a three of its own, and would never trail again in the game. The Spartans cut the lead down to a point twice, once on a jumper by Lawrence with 5:17 to go that made the score 67-66, and the second time on a jumper by Vanderbeck that trimmed the lead to 69-68 with 3:58 to play. But, the Pioneers answered with five-straight points and were ultimately able to hold the lead to pull out a seven-point win.

CWRU finished the game shooting 43.9% (25-for-57) overall, compared to 38.2% (26-of-76) for Marietta.

With Tuesday's game in the books, the Spartans will be off for the next two and a half weeks for finals. Case Western Reserve will return to action on Saturday, December 18 at 1:00 p.m., when the Spartans will play host to Kenyon College at Horsburgh Gymnasium.