Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Wilmington Quakers
Give a gift

Topp sets tourney rebounding record

WILMINGTON - The Wilmington College women's basketball team got back to the basics Saturday as they snapped a two-game losing streak with the 73-58 rout of Cincinnati-Clermont in the opening game of the 2012 Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament.

The Lady Quakers scored 27 fastbreak points and converted 28 offensive rebounds in 28 second-chance points. Wilmington pounded the Lady Cougars on the glass, 67-35, to stay unbeaten when winning the rebounding battle.

"We did a great job of offensive rebounding," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "Offensive rebounding has been a trademark of this program, and it has to continue to be because we don't shoot the ball well enough."

While getting back to basics was part of the solution, so was a change in the lineup. Sophomore Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) made her first career start, while the Lady Quakers made more of a concerted effort to get senior Brianna Peters (Alexandria, KY/Campbell County) more touches near the basket.

Senior LeAnn Topp (New Bremen, OH/New Bremen) was the main culprit on the boards, hauling in a career-high and tournament record 15 rebounds. Peters recorded her sixth career double-double with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.

After being unable to put significant distance between them and the Cougars, Wilmington opened the second half by scoring 16 of the first 17 points to put its lead to 24 points. However, UC-Clermont wasn't ready to go away as the Lady Cougars trimmed their deficit to 12.

"I thought at times, we played well," said Scheve. "Those were the times we had energy. I don't think we played with energy in the first half, but we did in the second half as we built a comfortable team."

With the energy leveling off, Scheve turned to his starting five to pick up the pace. Robles scored seven of her career-high 16 points during the Lady Quakers' 16-3 run that put the game on ice. Junior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) was the third Wilmington player in double-figures, scoring 10 points and added a career-high eight assists.

Wilmington (2-2 overall) will face Saint Vincent 3 p.m. Sunday in the championship game of the Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament. Clermont (3-6) will face Hendrix (0-4) in the consolation game at 1 p.m.