WILMINGTON, Ohio - Heidelberg University hit triples late in the second, third and fourth quarter to come from behind at defeat the Wilmington College women's basketball team 74-70 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener for the Quakers on Saturday afternoon.
"I was very proud of how our whole team played today," Head Women's Basketball Coach Jerry Scheve said. "We had to fight our way through some adversity this week. A couple breaks went their [Heidelberg] way."
Wilmington came out of the game strong and led 18-11 after the first quarter. Heidelberg would get as close as five points on multiple occasions in the second quarter, but the Quakers pushed the lead back up to 38-27 with an old-fashioned, three-point play from Kennedy Lewis with 40 seconds to play in the first half. Alyssa Riley gave the Student Princes some momentum going into halftime, however, nailing a three-pointer just before the buzzer.
Heidelberg came out of halftime and outscored Wilmington 24-11 in the third quarter. A Savannah Hooper layup with 36 seconds left cut the Quaker deficit to 51-49, but yet another late Heidelberg triple, this time from Aianna Wilson, gave the visitors a 54-49 edge.
A quick 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter from Wilmington, fueled by five points from McKayla Binkley, put the Quakers back on top 56-54 with eight minutes to play in regulation. Neither team would lead by more than a single possession until the final moments. Two free throws from Lewis put Wilmington ahead 68-67, but after a timeout, Riley connected on what would prove to be the game-winning shot, another three-pointer with 42 seconds left.
On the next possession, Lewis' floater rimmed in-and-out, forcing the Quakers to foul. Wilson made both free throws including banking in the first to stretch Heidelberg's lead to two possessions (72-68) with 11 seconds to play to seal the win.
Wilmington shot a higher percentage from the field, making 22-of-54 shots (40.7 percent) compared to 27-of-76 (35.5 percent) for Heidelberg, but could not overcome a 22-9 turnover margin despite holding a 46-37 rebounding edge.
Lewis finished with a career-high 22 points along with making 10-of-11 free throws and dishing out four assists. Lee also had a career-high afternoon, tallying 14 points and five rebounds. Faith Teaford added seven points and 14 rebounds.
"Kennedy [Lewis] had a great game and continues to get better for us," said Scheve. "Michelle [Lee] did very well for her first start as well."
Maddy Crawford led Heidelberg with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Riley added 16 points and Wilson 13.
Heidelberg, who defeated Wilmington for just the fifth time in the last 40 games, improves to 3-3 overall an 1-1 in the OAC while the Quaker drop to 4-2 and 0-1 in conference play.
Wilmington faces a road test at Ohio Northern University on Wednesday.
