The Wilmington College Lady Quakers stung the visiting Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets, 58-53 Saturday afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at Hermann Court’s Fred Raizk Arena.
With the win, Wilmington improves to 8-5 overall and a 4-2 record in the OAC. It was just the second defeat on the season for the Yellow Jackets (now 11-2), who also stand 4-2 in the OAC.
WC head coach Jerry Scheve was hopeful his squad would be able to bounce back quickly from its loss Wednesday night, 57-43, at Capital. Thanks to a strong second half defensive effort, allowing Baldwin-Wallace just 17 total points, his squad answered that question.
“I really don’t know what happened up there at Capital, but the girls really responded today and we really played with greater intensity. This was certainly an important game for us,” he said. “I felt it was important that we bounce back with a strong effort today, and in this conference, it is so important to win your games at home. I felt that once we pulled ahead and got the lead, our mindset was we were not going to lose. That intensity was there right to the final buzzer.”
Late in the first half, the Fightin’ Quakers were down by double digits but they closed the gap to single digits right before halftime. In doing so, Scheve felt his squad seized the momentum.
“Rather than letting them extend the lead, we made a run and pulled with seven (36-29). I told them in the locker room we could win the game if we executed and played better defensively. We really got things going our way. Mackenzie (Campbell) and Ja’Cole (Tabor) really stepped up.”
Thanks to a 15-8 margin in the third period, Wilmington knotted the score at 44 heading into the final period. Tabor knocked down a pair of free throws with just under 1:00 remaining to even the score. Mary Moyer put the Quakers on top, 46-44, at the 8:55 mark of the fourth and they never relinquished the lead.
Tabor, a non-starter, made her presence felt upon entering the game. She pulled down a career-high eight rebounds and led the team in scoring with a career-best 14 points.
“Ja’Cole has been a valuable asset for us all year,” Scheve said. “She made things happen in the first half and she scored some big points for us in the second half. She always hits the boards real well and had some key offensive rebounds for us.”
Campbell was the go-to player on offense during the third quarter, scoring nine of the Quakers’ 15 points.
Also in double figures was senior Brittaney Jefferson with 10 points. She entered the game just six points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau in her WC career. At the 4:44 mark of the fourth period, she reached that milestone on a driving layup giving WC a five-point cushion, 51-46.
“Throughout her career, Brittaney has been an outstanding performer and I feel her best effort today was on the defensive side of the ball” Scheve said.
Jefferson held Baldwin-Wallace’s top scorer, Mackenzie Colombo, to just 10 points. Sydney Clark led the Yellow Jackets in scoring Saturday with 20 points.
One of the primary reasons Wilmington was able to pull off the upset was the ability to make its free throws. Coming into the game, the Fightin’ Quakers were making just 67 percent from the free throw line, but they were a stellar 16-of-18 (88 percent) against BW.
“We probably lost two of our games at the free throw line,” said Scheve. “We haven’t shot them well, and that has been a point of emphasis this week.”
Wilmington travels to Muskingum on Wednesday, then returns home to face John Carroll 3 p.m. Saturday at Raizk Arena.
SUMMARY
January 7, 2017
@Fred Raizk Arena
Wilmington 59 Baldwin Wallace 53
BW 17.19.08.09…..53
WC 16.13.15.14……59
(53) BALDWIN-WALLACE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Clark 7-4-2-20, Colombo 3-0-4-10, Lemmon 0-0-0-0, Hughes 3-1-0-7, Smith 1-1-0-3, Bentler 1-0-0-2, Marshall 1-0-0-2, Schubert 1-0-2-4, Fecht 1-1-0-3, Womeldorf 1-0-0-2. TOTALS 19-7-8-53.
(58) WILMINGTON COLLEGE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Harman 0-0-2-2, Moyer 3-1-2-9, Jefferson 5-0-0-10, Andracki 0-0-0-0, Campbell 5-0-1-11, Hooper 2-2-3-9, Ritz 1-0-2-4, Tabor 4-0-6-14. Smith 0-0-0-0, TOTALS 20-3-16-59.
FIELD GOALS: WC 20-58 (Campbell 5-9 Tabor 4-7); BW 19-48 (Clark 7-13 Hughes 3-4)
3 PT FIELD GOALS: WC 3-12 (Hooper 2-3 Moyer 1-1); BW 7-22 (Clark 4-6)
FREE THROWS: WC 16-18 (Tabor 6-7 Hooper 3-3 Ritz 2-2 Moyer 2-2 Harman 2-2); BW 8-12 (Colombo 4-4)
REBOUNDS: WC-40 (Moyer 9 Tabor 8 Jefferson 7 Campbell 4 Harman 2); BW-31 (Lemmon 6)
ASSISTS: WC-7 (Andracki 4); BW-8 (Colombo)
STEALS: WC-7 (Jefferson 2 Campbell 2); BW-4
BLOCKED SHOTS: WC-2 (Harman 1 Moyer 1); BW-4 (Clark 3)
TURNOVERS: WC-13; BW-18
