WILMINGTON – The Wilmington College women’s basketball team outscored John Carroll University (JCU) 41-24 in the second half en route to a 68-52 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory Saturday afternoon.

The Fightin’ Quakers avenged a 73-67 loss at JCU on Jan. 13 with the victory.

“Every win feels good,” WC head coach Jerry Scheve said. “We did not play very well up there and they [JCU] did. This was a big game for us.”

Wilmington improves to 11-10 overall and 6-8 in OAC play with the win. The Quakers will travel to Otterbein University for a 7:30 p.m. contest Wednesday.

WC trailed 7-2 midway through the first quarter, but ended the period on a 10-0 run courtesy of four points from Nelly Noll and three from Michelle Lee. A Mackenzie Campbell layup that opened the second quarter put the Quakers on top 17-10.

The Blue Streaks scored the next 12 points and held the hosts scoreless for nearly six minutes to build a five-point edge.

Hannah Binkley sparked Wilmington with five points off the bench to end the offensive cold spell, but jumpers from Nicole Heffington and Kahrin Spear put the Blue Streaks up 28-24 with 29 seconds to play in the half. Campbell, determined to score before the buzzer sounded, got her own offensive rebound twice and scored as the Quakers went to the locker room trailing 28-26.

“We went ice cold and could not make any shots in the first half,” said Scheve. “I thought we took good shots in the first half, and I told the team at halftime to keep playing hard.”

Heffington, who led all scorers with 29 points the first time the two teams met this season, opened the second half with a three-pointer to put the visitors ahead by five once again. Wilmington answered, however, with a 9-0 spurt in four minutes started by a Savannah Hooper three-pointer and ending with six straight points from Campbell.

JCU pulled within two on the next possession, but the Quakers made eight free throws in the final three minutes of the third quarter and led 45-39 after 30 minutes.

Noll and Hooper buried triples to begin the fourth quarter, sparking a 12-0 run from Wilmington that put the game away.

The Quakers made 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line while the visitors converted 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the charity stripe.

Individually, Campbell, Noll and Emily Harman all scored in double figures led by Campbell’s 16 points and nine boards. Harman had 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists while Maddie Snider scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

“Emily [Harman] is playing like a senior,” Scheve said. “She is a very smart player that gives everything she has all the time. She is the anchor of our defense.”

Spear led all scorers with 17 points to lead JCU in defeat. She also had eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.