Quakers win OAC Opener

Hood and Peters each have double-double

|Box Score|

December 3, 2005

WILMINGTON, Ohio — Kelly Peters, Katie Streck and Sam Hood combined for 29 points in the final 12 minutes of play to lead Wilmington College past upset-minded John Carroll University, 89-75, in both teams¹ Ohio Athletic Conference opener Saturday at Fred Raizk Arena.

John Carroll (2-3 overall), led by reigning OAC scoring champ Shayla Bell, controlled the game early and built a 28-17 lead over a pancake-flat Wilmington squad with 8:20 to play in the opening half.

"I just didn¹t think we were ready to play, either the players on the floor or the bench," WC head coach Jerry Scheve said. "It was the most quiet it¹s been; the gym was quiet. We have to get each other up on the bench, and we didn¹t. It took us 10 or 11 minutes to start playing."

Streck (Dayton/Carroll), on her way to a season-high 22 points, scored six as the Lady Quakers (5-1 overall) tossed a 13-2 spurt, capped by an Anne Haky (North Olmsted/Bay Village) three-pointer, at the Blue Streaks. John Carroll, though, responded with eight straight points on baskets by four different players to take a 38-28 lead. Peters scored four of her game-high 23 points as Wilmington closed the half with a 9-2 run to slice JCU¹s lead to 41-37.

Jackie Hauke (Sardinia/Whiteoak), who scored 10 points, turned the heat up early in the second half with a steal and a three-pointer to pull WC to within a point. Moments later, the sophomore guard again swiped the ball and cashed in at the other end, and the tone of the game had been changed.

"I thought Jackie was the key when we went to our zone," Scheve said. "We had to go to the zone because we couldn¹t guard anybody. You need some people to anticipate passes, and early in the second half Jackie got a couple of key steals and got us pumped up a little bit. She¹s played solidly every game, so when you say she played well, it¹s kind of what we¹ve come to expect from her."

Erica Smith¹s three-pointer gave WC the lead, 50-47, at 14:57, but JCU hung around, tying the game at 56-56 on Bell¹s driving basket. From that point, the game was all green and white. Hood (Lockbourne/Teays Valley), who scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, drove to the basket at will, while Peters (Spencerville/Spencerville) and Streck controlled the paint.

"Katie¹s been missing some shots, just not getting them up above the rim," Scheve said. "She slowed it down with the basketball today, which is her greatest asset. She just took her time. She¹s a great shooter and she showed it tonight."

Peters and Hood recorded their third and second double-double of the season, respectively. Hood handed out 10 assists and Peters grabbed 10 rebounds. Hood moved into third place on the Lady Quakers¹ all-time assist list, passing Deanne Arnold, who finished her career with 312. Hood has 321 assists and trails only Jenny Eagan (522) and Megan Woodruff (580) on the WC career list.

Scheve praised the defensive work of Smith (Union/Northmont), who scored eight points and held Bell to 16 points. The coach also complimented the bench play of Shawna Thomas (Middletown/Middletown) — who contributed six points, four assists and two steals — Gina Hyle (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Cincinnati McAuley), Natasha Huckleby (Troy/Troy) and Kara Robinson (Zanesville/Bishop Rosecrans).

"Those four off the bench may have been the difference," Scheve said. "They did exactly what we asked them to do, which is play hard, defend and rebound."

The Lady Quakers, after being outrebounded in the first half, came back to win the boards battle, 33-28. Streck and Smith collected six and five rebounds, respectively. "Our first-half rebounding wasn¹t there," Scheve said.

"Our players know that they¹ve got to assume every shot is going to be missed, but we were in retreat as the ball was being shot. We had no offensive rebounds and we didn¹t box them out at the other end. I think that changed in the second half and we did a much better job with it."

The Lady Quakers conclude a seven-game season-opening homestand when Otterbein visits Fred Raizk Arena for an OAC showdown 7 p.m. Wednesday. Otterbein dropped its OAC opener to Baldwin-Wallace Saturday, 91-80.