BEXLEY – Junior Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) and freshman Mackenzie Campbell (Cincinnati, OH/Turpin) combined for 44 points as the Fightin' Quakers fell to Capital Tuesday, 70-62, in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament at the Capital Center.
It marks the third straight season Wilmington has lost to the Crusaders in the Capital Center in the quarterfinals of the league's postseason tournament.
Wilmington made several runs, but ultimately could never wrestle the lead away from the home team.
"I really thought when we needed to make a play, we made the play, but didn't make the basket," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "That's the frustrating part. We played against a team that starts five seniors that have been playing with a sense of purpose all season long."
Playing their third game in four days, Wilmington allowed the Crusaders to shoot 40 percent from the field, and sent Capital to the line 34 times. The Crusaders finished the game by making 10-of-11 from the free throw line, and were 28-of-34 for the game.
"We are a team that when prepare we play great defense," said Scheve. "Tonight with very little prep, we were as good defensively as we can be. It was not from a lack of effort."
Jefferson navigated through early foul trouble to lead the team with 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Campbell tallied 19 points with a team-high nine rebounds.
It marked the final collegiate game for Alexandria Kingsbery (Lima, OH/Central Catholic).
"I am really proud of what she has accomplished in her four years at Wilmington," said Scheve. "It's very difficult to play college basketball for four years, and to do it when things didn't necessarily go the way you expected shows tremendous fortitude."