The Wilmington College women's basketball team will play for the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament championship for the first time since 2008 when the Fightin' Quakers travel to Ohio Northern 3 p.m. Saturday.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Wilmington is 21-9 all-time in Ohio Athletic Conference tournament history, including going 4-2 in the championship games.
AS A THREE SEED: Wilmington is 6-2 all-time in the tournament as a three seed, including winning its second conference championship in 2003. The Fightin' Quakers are 1-1 as a three seed.
AGAINST ONU: WC has faced Ohio Northern in the OAC tournament three times, and is 1-2 against the Polar Bears. This is the first meeting between the two teams in the title game.
AS THE LOWER SEED: Wilmington enters the tournament 3-6 as the lower seed, including winless in three attempts against the tournament's top seed.
THE LAST MEETING: Britt Lauck hit the game-winning shot with 3.2 seconds remaining, and the Wilmington College women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to unbeaten and nationally ranked Ohio Northern, 62-61, Wednesday in front of a raucous Fred Raizk Arena crowd in Ohio Athletic Conference action.
Brittaney Jefferson finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, four steals and one assist, while Mackenzie Campbell added 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Savannah Hooper added 10 points and two boards.
OAC SEMIFINALS: For the first time since 2008, the Wilmington College women's basketball team will be playing for an Ohio Athletic Conference championship.
The third seeded Fightin' Quakers used runs at the end of the second and third period to push past Baldwin Wallace, the tournament's second seed, 62-59, Thursday in the semifinals of the OAC tournament at Ursprung Gymnasium.
Junior Savannah Hooper hit back-to-back three-pointers in scoring the final eight points of the second quarter as Wilmington turned a 10-point deficit into a three-point lead on the strength of a 15-2 run. Baldwin Wallace reclaimed its lead early in the third quarter by scoring nine of 11 point, and with 4:33 remaining in the period – the Yellow Jackets led by four. Once again, Hooper got the Fightin' Quakers going.
Her long-range bomb got the rally going, and four different players contributed points as WC led by four headed into final 10-minute segment.
Hooper led the team with 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, while Campbell added 13 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Moyer continued to be Wilmington defensive force, pulling down 14 rebounds – 10 defensive.
MEET THE POLAR BEARS: Ohio Northern puts its unbeaten record on the line Saturday after surviving a scare from fourth-seeded Marietta Thursday. Junior Amy Bullimore has two blocks in the final 20 seconds to secure the victory. She finished with 14 points, nine points and five blocks.
Senior Britt Lauck added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The Polar Bears are leading the conference in scoring offense (74.0 points) and scoring defense (56.0 points).
Lauck is leading the team, and is fifth in the OAC, with 14.9 points, while Bullimore is second with 13.4 points. Bullimore is third in the league, making 53.4 percent from the field, and is second with 8.1 rebounds.
ONU sports two of the top three shooters as Lauck is second in three-point percentage (43.7) and junior guard Courtney Cramer is third (40.5).
1,000 POINTS: Senior Brittaney Jefferson is the 14th player in school history to reach 1,000 points, and the first since Kortney Kin achieved the feat in 2010.
SMOOTH CRIMINAL: Not only has Jefferson been prolific on the offensive end, she is second all-time with 209 steals.
CAMPBELL'S SOUP: Sophomore Mackenzie Campbell leads the team and is second in the conference with 15.8 points per game. The guard is fourth in the league, and is the top guard, making 50.3 percent of her shots.
She has led the team in scoring in eight of the last 10 games, and 17 times averall.
PROUD MARY: Senior Mary Moyer leads the OAC in rebounding with 9.6 boards, including a career-high 18 rebounds earlier this season. Moyer grabs more than a rebound more than the closest player - ONU's Amy Bullimore (8.1).
She has four double-doubles this season and 11 in her career. Moyer has 13 double-figure rebounding efforts this year.
IT'S A COLE WORLD: Senior Ja'Cole Tabor comes off the bench to provide the Fightin' Quakers with whatever is needed. A natural wing, Tabor has played all five positions this season.
She pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds in Wilmington's comeback win over Capital on Senior Night.
SCORING: Wilmington College is sixth in the OAC, scoring 65.6 points per game, and third in scoring defense – allowing 59/6 points per game.