Lady Quakers edged by Capital
in OAC Tournament semifinal

WC unable to make six-point halftime lead stand

|Box Score|

February 23, 2006

BEXLEY — Wilmington College's bid for an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship ended Thursday with a 68-62 semifinal loss at Capital. The No. 2 seed Crusaders advance to face No. 1 Baldwin-Wallace in Saturday's 3 p.m. final in Berea. Baldwin-Wallace defeated No. 4 seed Otterbein, 72-60, in Thursday's other semifinal.

"The game was kind of a microcosm of the entire season," WC head coach Jerry Scheve said. "We played hard. We played well. Give Capital credit — their veterans really took over down the stretch. This is the 10th-ranked team in the country and we're playing on their home court. It's just a shame that we've lost the games that we've lost, but when you play the schedule we've played, you can be really good and just come up a little short. That's happened to us time and again this year."

In what has become a familiar scenario between the Lady Quakers and Crusaders, Wilmington (19-8) made Capital (24-3) play from behind most of the game. Jackie Hauke (Sardinia/Whiteoak) and Sam Hood (Lockbourne/Teays Valley) combined for 17 first-half points as Wilmington built a 30-22 lead at 2:30, but Capital turned the Lady Quakers over on consecutive possessions and kept WC within sight, 35-29, at the half.

Hauke hit a trey to give Wilmington a 46-37 lead, but Capital intensified its defensive pressure and whittled away at the Lady Quakers' lead. Jennifer Lilly scored to tie the game at 54-all with 5:24 remaining, then Sara Heitkamp hit a jumper to give the Crusaders their first lead since 14:13 of the first half.

Katie Streck (Dayton/Carroll) and Kelly Peters (Spencerville) provided Wilmington's offense in the second half, scoring 22 of the team's 27 points. The frontcourt pair scored Wilmington's final 16 points after Hauke's three-pointer at 13:41.

"Kelly played a great game. She plays hard with a desire to win," Scheve said. "I thought Katie played her best game of the year. It seemed like the last month that she got a little stronger, jumped a little better, just got things done. She got things done tonight on both ends of the floor."

Down the stretch, Capital's full-court pressure resulted in either a turnover or a lay-up for Wilmington. The Lady Quakers committed 13 of their 22 turnovers in the second half and the Crusaders were opportunistic. Heitkamp, who scored 27 points and recorded seven steals, was the primary theft culprit and Lilly asserted herself on the boards as the Crusaders held off Wilmington to notch the win.

Streck led Wilmington with 20 points, Peters and Hauke scored 12 each, and Hood and Erica Smith (Union/Northmont) added eight apiece.

With the loss, Wilmington loses a shot at the OAC's automatic berth in the NCAA national tournament. Scheve said an at-large bid is a long-shot, at best, but he offered no apologies if the Lady Quakers' season is finished.

"We're going to have two teams (Capital and Baldwin-Wallace) represent our league in the national tournament, and I think either one of them can make some noise. I wish them luck," Scheve said. "I think every one of our players was disappointed with our season, but I told them after the game that I hope they're disappointed, but at the same time don't for one minute think this wasn't a great season. We worked hard all year. We got better all year. We gave great effort in every game. We were right there in every loss and we won 19 games against what I feel was the toughest schedule in the country. This team doesn't have far to go. We lose Shawna Thomas (Middletown), who was a great senior leader for us. I know our players are confident about what we're looking forward to next year."