After having lost all of their 19-point second half lead, the Wilmington College Lady Quakers recovered in overtime to send Capital to its first Ohio Athletic Conference loss of the season with the 76-68 decision Wednesday at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.
Wilmington took the lead by scoring on its first possession of overtime and never relinquished it. The extra five minutes was owned by junior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia). The guard scored eight of her team-high 13 in overtime, including an early three that push the WC lead to two possessions. Howard sealed the game with four straight free throws down the stretch as WC converted eight of 10 from the charity stripe in the game's final minute.
"We didn't panic," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "It wasn't so much that we let them back in the game. They made shots and plays, while we were missing shots on our end. I told them at halftime that this game was just getting started. We knew they would make a run at us, and they did."
When sophomore Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) drained a three-pointer early in the second half, the Lady Quakers tied its game-high 19-point lead with 18:18 remaining in the game. Then, Capital started finding some creases in the WC defense that had befuddled them for the first 22 minutes of the game.
The Crusaders scored eight straight points to pull to within 11, but Wilmington was able to make enough baskets to keep the lead at double figures. With senior Emily Zimmerman's (Beavercreek, OH/Beavercreek) three-pointer halfway through the second half, the WC lead was back to 14.
"Emily Zimmerman made some huge shots for us, especially in the first half," said Scheve.
Then, Capital went on a full-fledged crusade back into the game.
"In the second half, they figured out holes in our defense and they attacked it," said Scheve. "As they were making baskets, we were missing two many on the other end."
Capital, over the next eight and a half minutes, dominated the game. They went on a 19-5 run and with a Simonne Gage layup with 2:56, the game was tied for the first time since it was 2-2. The Crusaders took their first lead of the game with 2:04 remaining, but junior Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) gave WC the lead back with 54 seconds left.
After two free throws gave Capital the lead, Tucker sent the game into overtime by making one of two from free throw line.
Overtime was probably the last thing anyone cheering for the home team that would happen as Wilmington scored 16 of the game's first 18 points. It took the Crusaders more than 12 minutes to reach 10 points.
An 8-0 spurt late in the first half, pushed Wilmington's lead to 19 and they held the 15 point lead into halftime.
In addition to her team-high 13 points, Howard added a team-high five assists and five rebounds. It was the ninth time in 10 games she led the team in assists.
Robles added 11 points, while a trio of Lady Quakers – Brianna Peters (Alexandria, KY/Campbell County), LeAnn Topp (New Bremen, OH/New Bremen) and Zimmerman – chipped in with nine points each. Topp pulled down a team-high 10 boards, marking her fourth double-digit rebounding performance of the season.
Wilmington (7-4 overall, 3-1 OAC) returns to the road 3 p.m. Saturday when the Lady Quakers travel to Tiffin for an OAC meeting Heidelberg.