The Wilmington College women's basketball team committed a season-high 27 turnovers, and subsequently lost their first game of the season – falling to John Carroll, 67-57, Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.
Despite the miscues, the Fightin' Quakers trailed by two following a three-pointer from seniorCourtney Tucker with 1:20 left in the contest. However, JCU's Emily Taylor answered with a three-pointer 20 seconds later, and scored the final eight points of the contest. Taylor tied her career-high with 20 points.
"I felt good about our chances to win the game up until the last minute because we weren't doing things well," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "Every other game we have played has been the same way. We haven't played the way we are capable, but we had spurts, turn it on. But today this team was too good for us to do that.
"Overall, we had a pretty good defensive effort," Scheve continued. "Taylor is a pretty streaky shooter, and she can have games like today. Her three at the end finally buried us. Overall, we did a pretty nice job containing the things we wanted to contain."
Wilmington led just once at 5-3, but it never allowed the Blue Streaks to pull away.
Every time John Carroll pushed their lead to 10 points, the Fightin' Quakers fought back. But, there were too many empty possessions that prevented WC from getting over the hump.
"That could really sum up the game," said Scheve. "We didn't handle their pressure early, and their pressure got more pressurized, which it tends to do. Consequently, we turned the ball over too much and couldn't get into our offense at the end."
In addition to the turnovers, Wilmington struggled at the foul line - shooting just 11-of-17 (64.7 percent). Meanwhile, JCU shot 79.2 percent (19-of-24) from the line.
Senior Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) was the only player to reach double figures, scoring a team-high 13 points. Senior Courtney Tucker (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) pulled down 11 rebounds with nine points and four steals. Her defense on Katlyn Spahar helped hold the OAC's leading scorer to eight points below her season average.
Wilmington (6-1 overall, 2-1 OAC) returns to the hardwood 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to host Point Park. The Pioneers are ranked #22 in NAIA.