Every time Ohio Northern seemed ready to take control of the game, the Wilmington College women's basketball team had an answer – the final coming from junior Courtney Tucker.

As the Polar Bears cut the WC lead from 15 points to one, Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) rattled home a three-pointer from the corner, pushing the lead back to four, and Wilmington clinched the 59-54 victory from the free throw lineWednesday in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.

"Courtney struggled early in the year offensively, but came into the year a much better three-point shooter," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "She made her first one and she was feeling it afterwards. Courtney has been playing really well lately, really since we've been bringing her off the bench. She doesn't have to score to be a real positive force for us. She defends as well as anybody and rebounds well. When she has confidence offensively and makes some shots, she is an outstanding player."

Tucker was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc to tally a career-high 11 points in 22 minutes. She added five rebounds for Wilmington.

During the ONU run, the Polar Bears scoring on seven of nine possessions. Meanwhile Wilmington's offense went on a futile spell. However, Tucker's triple seemed to reinvigorate the crowd and the Fightin' Quakers. After being held scoreless on seven consecutive possessions, WC scored on three of the last four to seal the win.

"On the defensive end, we had a lot of defensive breakdowns," said Scheve. "Offensively, I don't think we were bad, we just went through a spell where we didn't make any shots. The really good thing is when they cut it to one; we didn't blink. I told them a couple times during timeouts, that (ONU) is a championship team. We came out dead in the second half and they came out knowing what they wanted to do. We got off to that real bad start, but I thought after the timeout, we started to turn it around and really build the lead back up. Then they made that run, I told them again that (ONU) is a championship team and they weren't going to roll over and die."

It was the early timeout in the second half that may have turned the game in Wilmington's favor. After Ohio Northern scored the on its first two possessions to tie the game, Scheve reminded his team of the Polar Bears' pedigree.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Tucker and freshman Hannah Haeseker (Germantown, OH/Valley View) helped push the WC lead back to 11 – leading to an ONU timeout. It didn't seem to have much of an effect as Haeseker drilled another three-pointer moments later, and the Wilmington lead was 15.

For the second straight game, the Fightin' Quakers snapped an extended losing streak to an opponent. They had lost eight consecutive to the Polar Bears prior to the victory.

"It's a big win because they are a quality program," said Scheve. "That is the biggest win we have had in the last couple of years. Hopefully this game gets us over the hump."

Senior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) added 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the win. Haeseker added eights points and a team-high seven boards, while junior Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) also pulled down seven rebounds.

Wilmington (9-7 overall, 6-3 OAC) kicks off the second portion of conference play 3 p.m. Saturday, traveling to Marietta.