(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - An 11-0 Wilmington College run at the beginning of the second half was too much for Capital University's women's basketball team to overcome, as the Quakers came away with an 81-66 victory in Ohio Athletic Conference play Wednesday in The Capital Center.
Layups by juniors Caitlin Elsass (Batavia/Clermont Northeastern) and Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati/Colerain) to start the second half gave the Crusaders a 45-44 lead. But the Quakers responded with 11 unanswered points over the next three minutes, capped off by a 3-pointer by Jackie Hauke. The Crusaders came back with five straight points to cut the score to 50-45 with 14:35 left, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
Wilmington led by eight points early in the first half, but sophomore Kristen Richardson (Oxford/Talawanda) led the Crusaders back, tallying 18 of her team-high 22 points in the first half. She hit a 3-pointer at the 9:34 mark to give Capital its first lead, 23-22, and banked in a 3-pointer right before the half to bring the Crusaders to within one point, 42-41.
Katie Streck scored a game-high 28 points and seven rebounds, while Marianne McGoron added 15. Elsass scored 13 and sophomore Chelsea Ruoff (Grove City/Grove City) tallied 11 off the bench.
Wilmington improves to 14-4 (8-3 OAC), while the Crusaders fell to 11-7 (5-6 OAC) and will travel to University Heights at 3 p.m. Saturday to face John Carroll University.