WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College women’s basketball team, playing without its top two scorers, battled Otterbein University to a narrow 61-57 Ohio Athletic Conference loss Wednesday at Fred Raizk Arena.
Kennedy Lewis led Wilmington with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Brooke Davis and Haley Cook also finished in double figures.
Wilmington continues OAC action at Baldwin Wallace University Saturday.
Lewis opened the game with five straight points that included a layup off a great pass from Kelis Jones in the final seconds of the shot clock and an old-fashioned, three-point play. Otterbein answered with a 13-5 run fueled and led 13-9 after one quarter.
The second quarter began as a complete repeat of the first. Cassidy Lovett found Lewis for a layup. After an Otterbein miss, Jones found Lewis for the hoop and the harm to give the Fightin’ Quakers a 14-13 advantage. The Cardinals answered with an 8-0 run.
Trailing 22-18, a Sarah Balliett layup followed by consecutive threes from Davis powered a 10-2 run to end the half and give WC a 28-24 lead.
The Cardinals scored 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half and went on to equal their first-half total of 24 points in the third quarter alone. The result was Otterbein leading 48-40 after 30 minutes.
The visitors maintained at least a half-dozen point advantage for the first five minutes of the fourth, but Wilmington got aggressive and was rewarded with trips to the free throw line. After making its first 10 free throws, Wilmington only went 3-of-12 during a stretch in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 57-53 Otterbein lead. On the Quakers’ next possession, Lewis went baseline and appeared to convert yet another old-fashioned, three-point play, but the hosts were whistled for an offensive foul.
It would then be Otterbein’s turn to miss free throws, as the Cardinals erred on four straight to give the Quakers the ball trailing 60-57 with 14 seconds left. WC was unable to score and lost by four.
