ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Wilmington College women’s basketball team ended the first half on a 15-2 run and cruised to a 65-46 victory Saturday over the University of Mount Union in Ohio Athletic Conference action from the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
The victory was the first for Wilmington at Mount Union since the 2017-18 season.
Kennedy Lewis led all scorers with 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting including a 9-of-11 performance from the free throw line. Marisa Seiler added 11 points and seven rebounds while Jada Pohlen had eight points, all of which came in the second quarter, to go along with five rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Wilmington shot the ball well from all three levels, making 20-of-48 (41.7 percent) from the field, 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from distance and 20-of-23 (87.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Mount Union, on the other hand, was held below 30 percent from the field (16-of-60) and distance from (9-of-31) to go along with 41.7 percent (5-of-12) from the free throw line. The Purple Raiders won the battle of the boards 47-32.
Wilmington closes out the 2022 calendar year with an 8-3 overall record, the program’s best mark at this juncture of the season in at least a decade. The Quakers, who sit 2-2 in OAC games, open 2023 against Capital University Wednesday.
The Purple Raiders took a 3-2 lead on a Madison Hensley three-pointer 90 seconds in, but the hosts would score just two points over the next four minutes. During that time, the Quakers scored 10 points with five coming from Zahrya Bailey. Trailing 12-5, Mount Union hit consecutive triples to pull within a point, but an 8-0 run capped by a Seiler driving layup gave Wilmington a 19-11 leads after 10 minutes.
That margin would stay the same as a Purple Raider three-pointer, this one from Audrey Livesay, made the score 29-21 with 5:42 to play in the second quarter. That would prove to be the host’s last field goal of the half. Pohlen answered the long-distance shot with a triple of her own, and after Bailey made two free throws, the freshman continued to score. Pohlen hit a turn-around jumper and then another triple as Cassidy Lovett found her open on the wing. Two Mount Union free throws followed, but Pohlen fed a pass to Seiler, who nailed a triple on the baseline. The Quakers capped the half with a steal and layup from Elise Carpenter to take a 44-23 lead into halftime.
Wilmington held Mount Union to just 2-of-14 in the third quarter, and opened up a 30-point advantage (59-29) after three quarters. The Purple Raiders hit five of their nine triples on the game in the fourth quarter and outscored the Quakers 17-6 in the final 10 minutes.
