The Wilmington College women's basketball team scored the first nine points, and never trailed, in beating Muskingum Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference action, 77-69, in Fred Raizk Arena at Hermann Court.
Three players reached double figures and two more were on the cusp of double digits as the Fightin' Quakers snapped a three-game losing streak.
"I thought we played hard for 40 minutes," said Wilmington College head coach Jerry Scheve. "We didn't play well for all 40 minutes, but we played hard, and anytime you can do that you have to be happy. We executed offensively better than we have, and our 14 assists are reflective of that."
The 14 assists were a season-high for Wilmington with every starter registering an assist. Junior Ja'Cole Tabor (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) dished out a team-high four assists to go along with nine points, four steals, three rebounds and a block.
"Ja'Cole had the best game of her career today," said Scheve. "I thought she did a lot of everything well and was really the catalyst for us the whole game."
Five different players scored in Wilmington's 15-3 run late in the second quarter that enabled the Fightin' Quakers to take their first double figure lead of the game. The spurt came on the heels of a 30-second timeout as Muskingum had trimmed the lead to a single point.
Muskingum put together a couple of spurts, but the Fightin' Quakers were capable of holding MU at bay.
"We answered every run," said Scheve. "Muskingum has some good players. If you look at their last six games, they are as good as just about anybody in our league. They got off to a very slow start, but they have put things together. They are capable of beating anybody in our league, they almost did the other night, so I am really happy with the win."
Junior Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) led the way with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while freshman Mackenzie Campbell (Cincinnati, OH/Turpin) also tallied 16 points.
Junior Mary Moyer (Martinsville, OH/Clinton Massie) added 15 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Courtney Hillis (Springboro, OH/Springboro) recorded a career-high nine points, all in the second quarter.
"Mary is doing a great job of defending strong post players and shot the shot the ball well with that today," said Scheve. "There was a lot of stuff going on in that second quarter, and Courtney was able to give us a lift."
Wilmington (6-9 overall, 3-5 OAC) travels to Otterbein 7:30 p.m. in Ohio Athletic Conference action.
