WILMINGTON – John Carroll University, which had clinched the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title earlier in the week, defeated the Wilmington College women’s basketball team 56-45 Saturda in a defensive contest.
The two teams will meet again Tuesday in the OAC tournament. For the second time in three days, Wilmington, as the No. 8 seed in the OAC tournament, will head to No. 1 John Carroll for a quarterfinal round game 7 p.m. Tuesday.
John Carroll, which led 14-9 after one quarter, built a double-digit lead two minutes into the second quarter on two free throws from Shmoo Pryor. Wilmington (11-14, 6-12) would hold JCU to just three points in the next eight minutes and battle back to 24-20 at halftime thanks to an old-fashioned three-point play from Morgan Ritz, a basket from Faith Teaford and two free throws from Kennedy Lewis.
The Blue Streaks built their lead back up to a dozen on the strength of an 11-3 run to open the third quarter. The lead grew to as many as 15 points (46-31) early in the fourth quarter. Wilmington amped up its pressure on defense which forced JCU into three turnovers midway through the fourth quarter. A Mackenzie Campbell layup with 3:37 to play capped an 11-0 run and got the Quakers within 49-45.
John Carroll scored the final seven points of the game to escape Hermann Court with a win.
Hannah Binkley was the lone Quaker to score in double figures with 13 points while Campbell added nine along with two steals. Lewis tallied eight points and dished out four assists while Faith Teaford grabbed nine rebounds.
