Lady Quakers drop season opener

Team loses first game of season for first time since 1994-95

(WC Press Release) Wilmington, OH (November 21, 2003) -- The Wilmington College Lady Quaker basketball team fell to Thomas More College in the opening game of the Damon's/Wilmington Inn Tip-Off Tournament by a 79-75 count. Tara Rausch (Marysville/Fairbanks) set a new tournament scoring record with her 31 points in the game.

The Lady Quakers started the game on a tear, scoring the first 11 points of the game en-route to jumping out to an 11-0 lead just four and a half minutes into the game. The Saints battled back and took a two-point lead just under five minutes later. In the final 10 minutes of the half the largest lead either team would gather was three, as Thomas More went into the locker room with a two-point lead on an Allison Byars three pointer with two seconds left.

In the second half the two teams battled back and forth, as the Thomas More advantage grew to as many as eight, with a 65-57 advantage with 6:29 to play in the contest before the Green and White mounted a 9-0 run to take a one-point lead with just over four minutes to play in the contest. The teams fought back and forth with the Lady Quakers holding a one-point lead with two minutes to play before the Saints rattled off six consecutive points to take a four-point lead with a minute to play, as the four points would remain the margin of victory in the game.

Leading the way for the Lady Quakers was Rausch's 31 points and 13 rebounds while Emily Cummins (Springfield/Northwestern) added 16 points on the contest. Samantha Hood (Lockbourne/Teays Valley) dished out six assists while Amy Kincer (Englewood/Northmont) gave out five scores in the contest.

The Saints were led by Joanna Bess who scored 23 points, shooting 5-of-8 from three point range while Allison Byars had 15 and Carrie Clift and Brooke Warner each scored 10 in the victory. Warner led the squad with six rebounds while also dishing out a team-best six assists.

In the second game of the tournament, Frostburg State defeated Methodist 68-55. Tracey Little scored 23 for Frostburg State while pulling down 14 rebounds in the game. Methodist was led by Meg Coe's 14 points and Jennifer Dollyhigh's 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Lady Quakers face off against Methodist in the consolation game of the tournament starting at 2:00 while the championship game featuring Thomas More and Frostburg State starts at 4:00.