Lewis leads WC in OT thriller in Raizk Memorial

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WILMINGTON — Ohio Wesleyan missed a free throw and jumper in the final seconds of regulation and the Wilmington College women’s basketball team took advantage with a 62-59 overtime win Saturday in the championship game of the Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament at Hermann Court.

“I’m very proud of this team for playing hard and fighting through some stretches where we didn’t see the ball go in the hoop,” WC head coach Janel Blankespoor said. “We put together our best defensive game of the year to date, and our aggressiveness on the boards won out in the end.”

Kennedy Lewis, who was named the tournament MPV, finished the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks to pace the Quakers.

Marisa Seiler had 11 points and four assists. JaKaia Lotz hauled in six rebounds off the bench.

Wilmington made 18 of 20 from the free throw line in the win. After a 17 for 25 performance in the opening game, WC has made 43 of 49 from the line in the last two games.

Zahrya Bailey is 10-10 from the line this season while Lewis has made 16 of 17 the last two games.

Dating back to the 2021-22 season, Bailey has made her last 18 free throw attempts. Her last miss came on Jan. 15, 2022, when she was 0-for-5 from the line.

With the entire game played in an 11-point window, this was earmarked to go down to the wire from the start. Down the stretch, the Bishops led by four but Lewis scored four straight to make it 52-52. Kyria Walker made two free throws with 25 seconds to go to put WC up 54-52. After OWU tied the game it missed a free throw and elbow jumper and the team went to overtime.

A Cassidy Lovett stickback and two Lewis free throws gave Wilmington a three-point lead. The Quakers defense played tough in the final seconds for the win.

Wilmington, avenging a 65-45 defeat at OWU last season, is 3-0 and won won the Raizk Memorial Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season. The Quakers close out a four-game homestand with Kenyon College on Wednesday.

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