WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College women's basketball team outrebounded Earlham College 55-36 and claimed a 76-63 victory in the Quaker Bowl rivalry in the opening game of the 2017 Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament on Tuesday evening.
Wilmington outscored Earlham 19-7 in the opening quarter thanks to six points from both Mackenzie Campbell and Emily Harman including Campbell finding Harman for a basket just before the horn sounded. Earlham (1-8) responded early in the second quarter however, as a 13-2 run in just over four minutes made it a one-point game (21-20).
A.J. Arling pushed Wilmington's lead up to three with a basket on the next possession, and after a defensive stop, Harman pulled down two offensive rebounds and scored to put the hosts up 25-20. Wilmington failed to score on its next two possessions, but found offense rhythm by scoring eight consecutive times to build a 42-27 advantage with under 90 seconds to play in the first half.
Similar to the beginning of the quarter, Earlham closed to half on an 8-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Camryn White at the buzzer, sending the visitors into the locker room trailing just 42-35.
"I was hoping we could have opened up that game in the second quarter, but we got into some foul trouble which made us go deep into the bench," Head Coach Jerry Scheve said after the game. "They [Earlham] took advantage of that and really closed the gap on us."
Earlham closed the gap even further in the second half as Mariah Flynn's free throw with 32 seconds to play in the third quarter pulled the visitors within four points at 51-47. McKayla Binkley had the answer for Wilmington as she ended the third quarter with a basket and began the fourth with a three-pointer to put the hosts up 56-47.
Wilmington's lead would grow to as many as 19 (74-55) in the final quarter as Earlham couldn't get its deficit into single digits.
Wilmington shot 32-of-66 (48.5 percent) from the field in the game while holding Earlham to 20-of-67 for just under 30 percent. The hosts held a significant 55-36 rebounding edge while the visitors won the turnover battle 19-9.
Wilmington featured a balanced scoring attack as five Quakers finished in double figures in scoring including Harman who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. McKayla Binkley led all scorers with 18 points to go along with nine rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Campbell, like Binkley, also missed a double-double by a single rebound as the Cincinnati, Ohio, native had 12 points, nine boards and six assists. Savannah Hooper and Maddie Snider also scored in double figures.
"We got a little more scoring out of Emily [Harman] than usual," said Scheve. "She got some of her looks tonight and knocked them down. McKayla [Binkley] and Mackenzie [Campbell] gave us performances we were expecting."
White led Earlham with 16 points in defeat. Zoe Curtis chipped in 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field.
The victory over Earlham gives Wilmington a 4-1 lead in the 2017-18 Quaker Bowl rivalry.
Wilmington (6-3) has a day off before facing the University of Chicago in the final game of the 2017 Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.