UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - Playing their third game in four days including a second at John Carroll University, the Wilmington College women's basketball team battled valiantly in a 79-64 defeat at the hands of the top-ranked Blue Streaks in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday evening.

John Carroll, ranked No. 13 in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, looked to pull ahead early as the hosts opened the game on a 9-4 run. The Fightin' Quakers, seeded No. 8 for the OAC Tournament, were determined to not be trailing by a double-digit margin like the regular season finale, answered with a 7-0 run started by an old-fashioned, three-point play from Kennedy Lewis and ended with a Jaylah Captain layup off a pass from Cassidy Lovett to give WC an 11-9 advantage. A 10-0 JCU run followed by Elise Carpenter beat the buzzer with a layup to make the score 19-15 after one quarter.

The Blue Streaks stretched it to six points (28-22) midway through the second quarter, but consecutive jumpers from Haley Cook got the Quakers within a single basket. Wilmington, which trailed by six (32-26) for the second consecutive night, couldn't muster the mojo it did in Monday's win over Capital. Instead, it was the Blue Streaks that came up with the big third quarter. JCU made 9-of-13 from the field including a perfect 3-of-3 from distance and scored 25 points in the period. Wilmington hung around as Cook made a basket to pull the visitors within a dozen (52-42) with under a minute to play, but Gabrielle Gevaudan beat the buzzer with a triple. In the fourth, Wilmington battled to within 11 as Cassidy Lovett made a layup at the 6:42 mark to make the score 63-52, but a 7-0 JCU spurt put the game out of reach.

Both teams shot over 40 percent from the field, but JCU doubled WC in triples (8-4) and nearly did so from the free throw line (15-8). The hosts, thanks in large part of 22 boards from All-American Olivia Nagy, won the battle of the boards 50-31. 

Nicole Heffington led all scorers with 23 points while five other Blue Streaks finished in double figures in scoring. Kennedy Lewis, in what is likely her final game in a WC uniform, scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting while Cook added a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. Lovett and Brooke Davis also scored in double figures with 10 points each.

Wilmington finishes its 2021-22 season with an 8-18 overall record.