WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College women's basketball team withstood a fourth-quarter run from Waynesburg University (Pennsylvania) to earn an 81-75 win over the Yellow Jackets on the consolation of the McDonald's Holiday Tournament hosted by Bluffton University this weekend.
The Quakers built a nine-point lead after the first quarter and a triple from Savannah Hooper and a jumper from Kelly Noll put Wilmington ahead 28-14 a minute into the second quarter. Waynesburg got the deficit into single digits twice in the next five minutes, but baskets from McKayla Binkley and Maddie Snider put the Quakers back up 14 with 3:33 to play in the first half. The Yellow Jackets closed the gap to eight points (45-37) at halftime.
McKayla Binkley got Wilmington back up a dozen scoring the first four points of the second half, but Waynesburg answered with a 13-5 run capped by two Haley Porter free throws made the score 55-50 with 2:22 to go in the third. A jumper from Noll and a tip-in from McKayla Binkley as well as a free throw from Monica Starre ended the third quarter with Wilmington up eight.
Six consecutive points from Andrea Orlosky got the Yellow Jackets within a single basket (59-57), but Wilmington looked to put the game away as consecutive three-pointers from Kelly Noll two minutes later put the Quakers on top 11. An old-fashioned, three-point play from Kennedy Lewis that followed gave Wilmington a 74-60 advantage with five minutes to play.
Waynesburg, which played with seven players, didn't go away and made its final push, a 15-4 run over four minutes, to get within three points. The Yellow Jackets were forced to foul, however, and Wilmington hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Both teams shot the exact same mark from the field – 29-of-72 for 40.3 percent. Wilmington held a slight edge at the free throw line (15-14) as well as making eight triples compared to just three for the Yellow Jackets. The Quakers also grabbed 48 rebounds while Waynesburg had 37 boards.
Individually, Noll led Wilmington with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting while McKayla Binkley, who earned All-Tournament team honors, added a dozen points to go along with seven rebounds. Hooper and Snider also finished in double digits in the scoring column.
Orlosky led all scorers with 26 points for Waynesburg while Starre scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to notch a double-double.
Wilmington concludes its non-conference schedule with a 5-2 record and will resume Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play at John Carroll University on Jan. 5.
