Senior Courtney Tucker and sophomore Mary Moyer keyed a 18-1 Wilmington run that enabled the Fightin' Quakers to post the 73-61 victory over Ohio Wesleyan in the championship game of the Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament, sponsored by Austin's Eatery and Hampton Inn.
It marks the first time since 2008 that Wilmington has opened the season by winning their Tip-Off Tournament and the Raizk Tournament.
Moyer (Martinsville, OH/Clinton-Massie) and Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) totaled 15 of WC's 18 points in the pivotal second-half stretch. The game-changing run came on the heels of the Battling Bishops' 19-4 spurt which transformed their 14-point deficit into a one-point lead.
Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve, sensing things were going south for his team, called a timeout and delivered a simple message.
"Don't get your heads down," said Scheve. "Ohio Wesleyan is a good team. We told them they were going to make runs. Let's look forward, and not look back. In retrospect, you're almost glad it happened because it gave us some experience in handling adversity and we handled it very well."
One day after scoring her Wilmington career-high, Moyer dropped in a collegiate career-high with 27 points. She added 10 boards for her first career double-double. The sophomore averaged 22.5 points and seven rebounds in earning tournament MVP honors.
"She is a player that is playing a brand new position this year, and she struggled with it earlier in preseason," said Scheve. "She has worked on it every day, both in practice and outside of practice, and has gotten better every day. In the last week or two, things have started to click for her and she is doing a great job."
Tucker finished with 21 points, five rebounds and a team-high three steals to earn all-tournament team laurels. It comes on the heels of her earning Tip-Off Tournament MVP.
"She is playing, by far, the best basketball of her career here," said Tucker. "She is totally focused on the game, and what we are doing. Has played four outstanding games; hasn't had a letdown in any of those games."
With four lead changes and five ties over the first 14 minutes, Moyer displayed the first signs of her dominance. The post player scored eight points as Wilmington tallied 14 of the 16 points to build a 10-point lead, and WC took a 13-point advantage into the locker room.
Ohio Wesleyan had its one gasp, taking the one-point lead, but the combination of Moyer and Tucker were the Queens that took the Bishops.
Junior Ashley Andracki (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson) dished out a team-high five assists, and senior Kirsten Glick (Arcadia, OH/Arcadia) added seven points and eight rebounds.
Wilmington (4-0) has 11-days off before returning to the hardwood, hosting Capital 7:30 p.m. December 3 in its first Ohio Athletic Conference game of the season.
"It was very, very challenging non-conference schedule to start the season, and I am really happy with where we are," said Scheve. "But at the same time, we have a long way to go if we want to beat Capital (on December 3)."