TIFFIN, Ohio—Shelby Kies and Makenzie Wippel each scored a game-high 12 points and Wilmington College shot 23-of-34 from the free-throw line as the Quakers defeated Heidelberg University, 67-54, today in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. The game was the OAC opener for the Berg.

Sophomore guard Kathleen Phillips (Sandusky/St. Mary's) led the Berg (2-4, 0-1 OAC), which lost consecutive games for the first time this season, with 11 points on five-of-12 shooting. Freshman guard Paige Ricketts (Mineral City/Tusky Valley), who is averaging 9.0 points per game over her last two contests, added eight points and sophomore guard Emily Giel (Burton/Burkshire) and junior forward Molly Schriber (Sidney) each tallied seven markers. Schriber also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

In addition to Kies and Wippel for the Quakers (5-0, 2-0 OAC), LeAnn Topp scored 10 points and Bria Eslick was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Kies and Topp combined to shoot eight-of-18 from the field and Wippel went eight-of-10 from the charity stripe. Wilmington also controlled the rebounding battle, 57-32.

Wilmington opened the game with a four-point lead, but Heidelberg went on a 7-2 run to take a 7-6 lead at the 15:51 mark when Giel made a lay-up.

The Quakers took another four-point advantage, 11-7, at the 15:02 mark after Emily Zimmer made a lay-up and a foul shot to convert the three-point play following a foul by Giel.

Phillips then converted a three-point play of her own to bring the Berg to within 11-10 less than a minute later. Schriber later tied the game at 13-13 when she buried a three-pointer with 13:50 on the clock.

Kies tied the game again, 16-16, as she made one-of-two from the charity stripe at the 9:44 mark, and Wilmington closed the opening half by going on a 23-9 run. Eslick made one-of-two foul shots with 14 seconds left to give the Quakers a 39-25 lead, but sophomore forward Kyra Dorney (Fairborn/Greenon) knocked down a triple with eight seconds to send the Berg into the break looking at an 11-point deficit at 39-28.

Phillips opened the second half with a jumper in the paint at the 19:30 mark to close to within nine at 39-20, but Wilmington would hold a double-digit lead through the remainder of the game.

Kies extended the Quaker lead to 20, its largest of the game, as she made a three-pointer with 16:30 on the clock for a 52-32 edge.

The Berg closed to within 10 points after going on an 18-10 run that spanned nearly 13 minutes as Giel buried a triple at 3:51 to close the gap to 60-50. Heidelberg kept pace with Wilmington down the stretch, but could not find an opening to cap the comeback.

Despite the loss, Heidelberg turned the ball over a season-low 14 times.

Today's game was the first of four in an eight-day period for Heidelberg. The Berg hosts Case Western Reserve University in a non-conference game Monday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. before returning to league play at Baldwin-Wallace College on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Muskingum University on Saturday, Dec. 10.