Lady Quakers win
in double-overtime

Peters scores 25 for WC

|Box Score|

January 28, 2006

ALLIANCE — The Wilmington College Lady Quakers overcame 20-percent first-half shooting to defeat Mount Union, 79-73, in an Ohio Athletic Conference double-overtime thriller Saturday.

"We came up here today and I thought we were ready to play," WC head coach Jerry Scheve said. "We just couldn't make a shot the first three or four minutes. We played pretty well defensively, but I think the fact that we just couldn't score early gave Mount Union some confidence, and they started really playing hard. We just couldn't get anything going at all the first half."

The Raiders (6-6 OAC, 11-8 overall) jumped to a 10-2 lead when Kyla Hogan hit a three-pointer at 14:06. Erica Smith — on her way to a 17-point performance — knocked down a pair of treys, the second of which gave the Lady Quakers a 14-13 advantage.

Wilmington (9-3 OAC, 14-5 overall) maintained its one-point lead at halftime, 24-23, despite connecting on just five-of-25 field goal attempts during the opening 20 minutes of play.

"It's real important for us that Erica scores," Scheve said. "She's kind of been in a shooting slump, but made some big threes for us in the first half. When she's playing well, she's a big weapon for us. She was certainly needed today."

Kelly Peters (Spencerville) scored 11 second-half points as No. 25 Wilmington built a 54-49 lead with 4:44 to play in regulation. The Raiders reeled off five unanswered points to knot the game at 54-all. The lead ping-ponged down the stretch and the score was tied at 60-60 at the end of regulation.

Peters continued to dominate in the first overtime session, scoring all six Wilmington points. Hogan made one-of-two free throws with 17 seconds to play to send the game to a second overtime.

After Hogan hit a pair of free throws to give the Raiders a 70-67 lead early in the second overtime, Wilmington took over. Katie Streck (Dayton/Carroll) tied the game on a three-point play that started a 12-0 run that gave the Lady Quakers a 79-70 lead with just 15 seconds remaining. In the outburst, five Lady Quakers — Streck, Sam Hood (Lockbourne/Teays Valley), Jackie Hauke (Sardinia/Whiteoak), Smith (Union/Northmont) and Peters — scored as WC dodged an upset on the highway.

Peters — who scored just four points in the first half — hit eight-for-12 from the field and nine-for-13 from the foul line to finish with game-high 25 points.

"The first half, Kelly only had two shots and didn't make those, but got to the line and made four free throws," Scheve said. "But I'm finding out more and more every day that Kelly's a kid who doesn't like to lose, that she's going to do whatever it takes to win. In the second half and in both overtimes, she dominated the game. She was certainly the key to us winning the game. Anytime things were tough, she would get a rebound or a steal or get to the foul line. She was everywhere the second half."

Hood and Streck also hit double figures, with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Peters, Hauke and Streck collected eight rebounds each. Hogan led Mount Union with 22 points and 18 rebounds.

"It's good to win a game like this," Scheve said. "When you get into overtime and you've been there before, you realize from a game like this that the game really doesn't change, you're going to win it by doing what you do best and not trying to do too much."

The Lady Quakers will host OAC rival Capital University 7 p.m. Wednesday at Fred Raizk Arena.