WILMINGTON, Ohio - John Carroll University, which had clinched the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season title earlier in the week, defeated the Wilmington College women's basketball team 56-45 in a defensive contest on Saturday.
The two teams will meet again in three days as Wilmington, as the No. 8 seed in the OAC Tournament, will head to No. 1 John Carroll for a quarterfinal round game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
John Carroll (JCU), which led 14-9 after one quarter, built a double-digit lead two minutes into the second quarter on two free throws from Shmoo Pryor. Wilmington would hold JCU to just three points in the next eight minutes and battle back to 24-20 at halftime thanks to an old-fashioned, three-point play from Morgan Ritz, a basket from Faith Teaford and two free throws from Kennedy Lewis.
The Blue Streaks built their lead back up to a dozen thanks to an 11-3 run to open the third quarter. The lead would grow to as many as 15 points (46-31) early in the fourth quarter. Wilmington amped up its pressure on defense which forced JCU in three turnovers midway through the fourth quarter. A Mackenzie Campbell layup with 3:37 to play capped an 11-0 run and got the Quakers within four points (49-45).
John Carroll scored the final seven points of the game to escape Hermann Court with a win.
JCU shot a slightly better percentage from the field (33.9-31.0) but made 7-of-25 (28.0 percent) from distance compared to just 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from Wilmington. The Quakers won the rebounding battle 42-38.
Hannah Binkley was the lone Quaker to score in double figures with 13 points while Campbell added nine along with two steals. Lewis tallied eight points and dished out four assists while Faith Teaford grabbed nine rebounds.
Pryor scored 13 points to lead the Blue Streaks while Kahrin Spear and Nicole Heffington also scored in double figures.
Wilmington concludes its 2018-19 regular season with an 11-14 overall record and a 6-12 mark in OAC play. The Quakers' OAC Tournament quarterfinal at John Carroll is slated to begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
