WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College women's basketball team overcame a 10-minute scoreless stretch by a lockdown defensive second half in a 61-50 triumph over Capital University in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opening round game at Hermann Court on Monday evening.
The Fightin' Quakers, who were looking to avenge a 51-47 defeat at the hands of the Comets went to work right away as Cassidy Lovett scored on the opening tip-off. A Haley Cook steal followed and Kennedy Lewis found Brooke Davis for a layup. Capital scored its first basket, but four consecutive Wilmington baskets, including two from Lovett, to put the hosts up 12-4 with 5:42 to play in the quarter.
Then came a drought, and a long one at that. Wilmington wouldn't score a single point in over 11 minutes as Capital built a 20-12 advantage in a game that looked eerily similar to the first meeting at Fred Raizk Arena. Lewis broke the deadlock with a pull-up jumper from the elbow, but a Laney Murphy triple, which turned out to be her only make in the first 10 tries, with 2:02 to play in the half put the Comets on top 26-16.
Wilmington, which had missed its first eight triples of the game, looked to Davis, a fifth-year senior, for a spark. The Erlanger, Kentucky, native delivered, hitting two win triples to give the Quakers, which trailed 28-22 at the break, some momentum going into the locker room.
Momentum indeed. Wilmington came out and played perhaps its best quarter of the season, tallying 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting while holding Capital to just a 4-of-15 shooting mark. The period ended with Lewis getting fouled a heave from the volleyball line and made all three free throws. Up 50-39, the Quakers put the game away with a 7-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and allowed just four points over a nine-minute span that ended the third quarter and began the fourth.
Wilmington finished 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) from the field to go along with three triples and a perfect 10-of-10 at the charity stripe. Capital finished 18-of-58 (31.0 percent) for the game with seven triples and seven field goals, but was held to under 30 percent shooting in the second half. The Quakers won the rebounding battle 45-33, dished out 14 assists and had 11 steals.
A quartet of Quakers - Davis, Cook, Lewis and Lovett - finished in double figures with each scoring between 10-12 points. Lewis finished with a dozen points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals while Davis also had a dozen. Zahrya Bailey scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench.
Brooke Ommert led Capital with 15 points in defeat while Murphy added 13 points on just 4-of-16 shooting with two of those field goals coming in the final minute.
Wilmington will move on to the quarterfinals to face top-seeded John Carroll University for the second time in four days on Tuesday. Tip-off from the DeCarlo Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
