Megan Woodruff

Lady Quakers need overtime to defend OAC Title

BEREA (March 1, 2003) - Wilmington successfully defended their OAC Title on Saturday evening when the Lady Quakers defeated the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets by a 79-72 score in overtime.

The two teams ended regulation tied at 66 before the Lady Quakers out-scored the hosts 13-6 in the extra stanza to go away with the victory.

Wilmington (25-2) got the first score of the game and led by two a minute-and-a-half into the game before the Yellow Jackets went on a 5-0 run to take a lead that they would keep for ten minutes. B-W led by four with 7:56 left in the half before the Green and White ran off an 8-0 run that they kept until the end of the half. The lead for the team grew to as many as seven with just 28 seconds left in the half before Karissa Kusick gave the Yellow Jackets momentum going into the locker room with a three point basket with two seconds left.

Baldwin-Wallace (24-4) found themselves down by six a minute into the second half before they opened a 10-0 run to claim a four-point advantage. The two teams found themselves going back and forth, before B-W forward Holly Koepp hit a lay-up with 17 seconds left giving the Yellow Jackets a two-point lead. Megan Woodruff (New Vienna/East Clinton) then drove into the lane and was fouled with nine seconds left. Woodruff calmly stepped to the stripe and knocked down both free attempts to tie the game at 66. BW's Sarah Gordon drove the lane on their possession but took an extra step on a jump stop and was called for traveling with three seconds to play in the game. The Lady Quakers then threw the ball down court to Tara Rausch (Marysville/Fairbanks) who then tossed the ball to Woodruff who threw up a three-point shot that was just short, sending the game to an extra five minutes.

In the overtime period, the teams traded baskets with Wilmington's Rausch hitting a jump shot before B-W's Natalie Winkelfoos hit a three-point basket, giving the lead back to the hosts. The two teams again exchanged baskets before Baldwin-Wallace found themselves up by one with 2:53 to play in the game at 72-71. Wilmington then reeled off the last eight points of the game as the visitors defeated Baldwin-Wallace 79-72. The Lady Quakers were led by OAC Player of the Year Rausch who put up 25 points while Woodruff scored 17 and Siobhan Zerilla (Cincinnati/Mercy) chipped in 14. Zerilla continued her rebounding prowess with 19 rebounds, ending the OAC Tournament's three games with a total of 58 rebounds, an average of 19.3 in that span. Baldwin-Wallace was led by Holly Koepp who scored 18 points while Erika Schultz scored 14 and Natalie Winkelfoos chipped in 12.

The Lady Quakers also put three players on the All-Tournament Team with Zerilla, Woodruff and Rausch being named to the squad. The Lady Quakers find out on Sunday evening as to whom they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament. Information can be found at www.ncaachampionships.com.