With the game hanging in the balance, freshman Brittaney Jefferson made the two biggest baskets of her young career, helping Wilmington post the 69-65 win Friday over Trine in the first round of the Damons/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament at Fred Raizk Arena.
"Brittaney Jefferson hit some real big shots for us," said head coach Jerry Scheve.
Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) knotted the game at 63 with her only three-pointer of the game with 1:30 remaining, and then gave the Fightin' Quakers the lead with a driving lay-up with 43 seconds left in the game. She missed the free throw, but senior Mackenzie Wippel (Orient, OH/Westfall) was fouled while securing the rebound. Wippel connected on both free throws to give Wilmington a two-possession lead.
Without Wippel early, Jefferson's contributions would have been nullified. The forward scored half of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Senior Bethany Ahrens (Versailles, OH/Versailles) recorded seven of her 10 points in the first half.
Wilmington struggled early in the first half as starting forward Kirsten Glick (Arcadia, OH/Arcadia) went down with an injury one minute into the game, and starting point guard Haley Howard (Uhrichsville, OH/New Philadelphia) spent most of the half on the bench in foul trouble.
"I thought our two senior post players (Wippel and Bethany Ahrens) carried us in the first half," said Scheve. "Allison (Prine) did a nice job of keeping us in the game with Haley Howard in foul trouble."
Trine was able to build a first-half advantage thanks to a 10-2 run late in the first half, and the Thunder took a 35-30 lead into the locker room.
The Thunder grew the lead to as much as seven points in the second half, and led for most of the final 20 minutes. Wilmington made several runs at the lead, cutting it to one on several occasions. However, it seemed as every time WC made a run, Trine had an answer. Until, Howard drilled a three-pointer with 6:31 remaining from a Jefferson pass.
Trine answered with a three-pointer of its own, but Jefferson helped Wilmington reclaim the lead with two free throws. A quick 6-1 Thunder run seemed to shift momentum back to them with a little over two minutes remaining.
However, Howard and Jefferson had the final answers to bring home the victory.
"Obviously, it was hard fought game," said Scheve. "Losing your starting center hurt us early. It took our young players some time to get adjusted. We will have to play a lot better tomorrow."
Wippel finished with 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting and was a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line. The 12 makes without a miss is the second-most in school history. Megan Woodruff holds the record, going 13-of-13 in the 2001-02 season. Wippel added six boards for the Fightin' Quakers.
"Twenty points in 19 minutes is a good performance," said Scheve. "We got some good production out of our young players. They were tentative early, but settled down and play well."
Ahrens added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Howard recorded nine points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists, while Jefferson finished the night with nine points, two assists and one steal.
Wilmington (1-0) faces #8 Thomas More (1-0) in the championship game 3 p.m. Saturday. The Saints pulled away late from Wittenberg to record the 85-76 win. Wiitenberg faces Trine 1 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game.
