Four players reached double figures, and every player that attempted a shot scored, as the Wilmington College women's basketball team defeated John Carroll Saturday, 80-60, in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.
The victory snapped a six-game regular season losing streak to the Blue Streaks. Wilmington eliminated JCU from last season's OAC tournament.
"I thought the first half was as good as we could play, especially offensively," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "We just passed the ball extremely well, and always made the next pass to lead to a better shot. Defensively there were some lapses, but overall, we did a good job on (Kaitlyn) Spahar and (Shmoo) Pryor. We let some of their other kids get loose which we didn't want to happen. The second half, we were just playing a good basketball team. John Carroll is not going to let itself get run out of here, and they competed to fight back. We didn't play badly in the second half."
Seniors Mary Moyer (Martinsville, OH/Clinton Massie) and Ja'Cole Tabor (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) either scored or assisted on all 11 points as the Fightin' Quakers scored 11 straight to take the lead in the first quarter they wouldn't relinquish.
Tabor added a personal 8-0 run in the second quarter and back-to-back three pointers from freshman Samantha Murphy (Fayetteville, OH/Fayetteville Perry) expanded the run to 14-2 as Wilmington had a 17-point lead midway through the second quarter.
By the end of the quarter, in which Wilmington shot a robust 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the field – the Fightin' Quakers were cruising to a 23-point halftime lead.
"Once again, Ja'Cole was the big spark in the second quarter," said Scheve. "It gave our team a good feeling about how we were playing."
However, Tabor wasn't the lone factor in helping Wilmington get out to the hefty bulge.
"I looked at the stats at halftime, we had played ten people, no one had more than five shots and everyone scored," said Scheve. "I don't know what more you can ask out of a team. You are looking for a balanced team, and that was the epitome right there. It was fun to watch."
John Carroll pulled to within 15 points a couple times in the second half, but never really threatened thanks to some key shots by junior guard Savannah Hooper (Leesburg, OH/Wilmington).
"Savannah Hooper hit some big shots to stop a rally, and Samantha Murphy hit some big shots in the second quarter," said Scheve. "We got a lot of scoring out of that position today. We can be a really good three-point shooting team, and when we do shoot the three well, we are a solid basketball team."
Hooper finished with a team-high 15 points, while Tabor chipped in with 12 points, three assists and two steals. Their contributions were the main reason the Fightin' Quakers reserves outscored their JCU counterparts 39-16.
Moyer continues to thrive on the boards with her sixth double-figure rebounding effort of the season, hauling in 13 boards to go along with her 11 points and five assists. She helped WC dominate on the glass with a 48-22 edge. Wilmington added 16 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points.
Sophomore Mackenzie Campbell (Cincinnati, OH/Turpin) added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Wilmington (10-5 overall, 6-2 OAC) wraps up the first half of the Ohio Athletic Conference season by traveling to Otterbein (7-8 overall, 3-5 OAC) 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
