Five different players scored just a game-deciding 19-2 run as the Wilmington College women's basketball team won the 2014 Damon's/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament by beating SUNY Geneseo, 75-68, Sunday at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.
"Without a doubt, there were three quality teams (in the tournament)," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "That is why we wanted to play them. We wanted to find out what we need to do to get better, and we have a lot of things to work on. Playing teams like this really exposes your weaknesses, but frankly it exposed some of our strengths. Beyond everything, we are really going to play hard; we are not going to give up and we are going to fight to the end."
Wilmington was the lone team in the tournament that didn't qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season.
The scoring came from unlikely sources during the run as senior Kirsten Glick (Arcadia, OH/Arcadia) and freshman Emily Smith (Bellbrook, OH/Bellbrook) combined for 10 of the 19 points. Smith, who tallied a career-high 11 points was part of a group of reserves that tallied 30 points for Wilmington. Sophomore Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) scored 12 points off the bench.
Things were looking bleak for the home team as the SUNY-Geneseo zone appeared to have WC befuddled.
"We are going to be fine against the zone," said Scheve. "We have plenty of shooters. I think the first time you see anything, we haven't seen (the zone) yesterday or any of our scrimmages, and we are not playing it ourselves. We probably haven't done enough work. We weren't expecting them to use it. When we did make a couple of shots, it was good. We got them out of it and we took over the game."
For a 12-minute stretch that ended the first half and began the second half, the Knights turned a seven-point deficit into a 10-point lead.
"We lost the lead quickly, and got down 10 before you could bat an eye," said Scheve. "I had taken two timeouts to try and slow it down. I didn't like the looks on (the WC players) faces right then, and that is why I took some timeouts."
Back-to-back three-pointers from Jefferson and freshman Ellie Kivell (West Chester, OH/Lakota West) seemed to give Wilmington the needed push to start attacking the zone. Jefferson and senior Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) knocked down a couple more three-pointers and Robles' triple was the precursor to the aforementioned game-changing spurt.
However, the Knights had one last gasp, trimming the WC lead to three points with three minutes remaining. Junior Ashley Andracki (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson), who was named to the All-Tournament team, made a circus lay-up to push to advantage to two possessions. The converted point guard added four points from the free throw line to help Wilmington seal the win. Andracki finished with nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
Senior Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) was named the tournament MVP after leading the team with 14 points and eight rebounds. Not only did Tucker pace the offense, her defense was simply spectacular.
Glick finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Kivell distributed a team-high five assists.