MARIETTA – Down 10 points with 37 seconds remaining, the Wilmington College women's basketball team recorded possibly the most improbable victory in school history, beating Marietta, 103-102 in double overtime in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Ban Johnson Arena.
"With 37 seconds to go, it's definitely the best short term comeback," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "At that point we had nothing to lose. We needed to get a steal immediately or foul immediately. We played aggressively and got some things going. It was a full team effort.
"Marietta, I thought, played a great game," Scheve continued. "We didn't play bad defense, they earned a lot of baskets. They were hot all day, and we didn't have much luck stopping them."
Wilmington forced four turnovers in the final 30 seconds, and freshman Hannah Haeseker (Germantown, OH/Valley View) got the ball rolling offensively. After missing her first five three-point attempts, she drilled back-to-back three-pointers over eight seconds to pull WC within four with 22 seconds remaining.
Following another MC turnover, senior Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) got the Fightin' Quakers to within two with 17 seconds left. The Pioneers seemingly stemmed the tide by regaining a two-possession lead with two free throws.
But Makenzie Wippel (Orient, OH/Westfall) pulled WC back to within two with seven seconds left, and junior Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) completed the comeback with two free throws after getting fouled on a steal.
Turnabout was fair play in the first overtime as Marietta hit a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to send the game into a second extra session. The Pioneers used the momentum gained to open up a six-point bulge with a shade of two minutes remaining.
The Fightin' Quakers clamped down on defense, and MC didn't score again until a last second basket. Wilmington forced turnovers on three consecutive possessions, and in four of five possessions.
Robles started the game-deciding run with a three-pointer and back-to-back layups from Wippel and freshmen Kirsten Glick (Arcadia, OH/Arcadia) gave WC the lead. Glick and Haeseker each converted one of two from the charity stripe to push the lead to three. Marietta was unable to get the equalizing three-pointer, and settled for a lay-up with one second remaining to get to the final tally.
Wilmington played almost all of both overtimes without leading scorer Howard as she fouled out with seven points, seven rebounds and five assists. In her stead, senior Jada Brown (Cincinnati, OH/Purcell Marian) played admirably. Brown played seven of her 13 minutes in the extra sessions.
"Jada has done some great things for us," said Scheve. "She has gotten herself in the rotation."
Wippel led a quintet of double figure scorers with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds. Robles tied her season-high with 19 points, making 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, and a team-high eight rebounds.
Haeseker finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) came off the bench with 11 points and four steals. Junior Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) also had four steals.
Wilmington (10-7 overall, 7-3 OAC) has won a season-high four straight, and six of the last seven. The Fightin' Quakers hosts Muskingum 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.