With the team's leading scorer on the bench with foul trouble, and the opponent brimming with confidence, senior Jada Brown made sure this year's senior class wouldn't graduate without recording a victory over Mount Union.
Brown (Cincinnati, OH/Purcell Marian) hit back-to-back three-pointers, the first one with the shot clock expiring, to boost Wilmington to the 67-59 victory over the Purple Raiders in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court. Wilmington had lost six straight to the Purple Raiders.
"She is getting her chance here lately, and today showed she deserved it," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "She played incredibly well for us. Jada has never been in that position before, and today got to show that she can carry the team."
The 5-3 guard, who has missed the previous two seasons with injuries, tied her career-high with 12 points. She was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, while the rest of the team combined to shot 1-of-15 from three-point land. After not playing in the seven of the first 10 games, Brown has taken over the back-up point guard role in the last five games. Wilmington is 4-1 in those games.
Senior Makenzie Wippel (Orient, OH/Westfall) scored 12 of her team-high 18 points in the second half. She opened the half with a lay-up on the first possession, and Wilmington never trailed for the remainder of the game. Scheve was pleased with how Wippel battled in the post.
Senior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) added 16 points and a team-high seven assists.
The Fightin' Quakers did an excellent job in defending the Mount Union motion offense, recording 13 steals in the Purple Raiders' 14 turnovers. They also limited them to just 22 percent shooting (6-of-27) from beyond the arc.
"I have to believe that is the best game we have played all year," said Scheve. "Mount Union is a quality team. They can play with anyone in this league. They are a three-point shooting team, and they didn't make them today. I would like to think we had something to do with that. They are a tough team to guard, They run great transition game. We gave up a couple threes early, and got that corrected. Their half court motion is screen after screen after screen, and it takes a ton of communication - which is something we lacked early in the year - but today we talked, helped each other and did a good job of guard it. But then again, they had an off night."
One of the keys to Wilmington's defensive effort was junior guard Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore). Her defense in the second half on the Mount Union shooters really enabled WC to maintain its lead.
Wilmington (8-7 overall, 5-3 OAC) hosts Ohio Northern 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in a "Black Out". All fans should come dressed in black to support the women's team.
