BEXLEY - The Wilmington College women's basketball team nearly battled back from a 15-point second-half deficit, but couldn't quite get over the hump and fell to Capital Wednesday, 68-59, in Ohio Athletic Conference action at the Capital Center.

"We played a quality basketball team tonight," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "I thought we played toe-to-toe with them. They had to make big shots to beat us, and we just came up short. I am proud of the way we hung in there."

Senior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) led Fightin' Quakers with 19 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and four assists, while freshman Hannah Haeseker (Germantown, OH/Valley View) tallied a career-high 13 points.

Freshman Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) recorded nine points, four assists and a team-high three steals.

When sophomore Whitney Barfknecht (Vandalia, OH/Butler) hit a jumper at the free throw line with a shade over four minutes remaining, Wilmington trailed by just three. Capital immediately responded by scoring on three consecutive possessions to push the lead back to nine, pretty much sealing the game.

The Crusaders proceeded to hit six of eight from the free throw line down the stretch to ensure WC didn't make a late run.

Wilmington opened the game by scoring the first four points of the game, and then teams traded leads for the first seven minutes of the game. Capital seized control of the contest with a 17-5 run over the next eight minutes to open a 10-point lead. The Fightin' Quakers pulled to as close as six points in the first half, but a three-pointer at the buzzer pushed CU's lead to 10 at the break.

Wilmington (4-5 overall, 2-2 OAC) returns to the court 5 p.m. Friday with a non-conference road game against Ohio Wesleyan.