World Championship women rally to beat Heidelberg 61-51

WILMINGTON — The Wilmington College women’s basketball team overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat Heidelberg University 61-51 on Saturday in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest at Fred Raizk Arena Saturday afternoon.

Wilmington finished the game 23 of 61 (37.7%) from the field to go along with a performance of 7 of 25 (28.0%) from three-point range and 8 of 11 (72.7%) from throwing straight line. The Quakers also edged the Student Princes 43-29 in the game.

Kennedy Lewis finished with 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals while Jada Pohlen added 14 points. Jaylah Captain had six points and six rebounds while JaKaia Lotz added nine rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

Wilmington (6-3, 1-2 OAC) hosts Earlham College next Saturday.

The Quakers only had two field goals in the first five minutes, but both were three-pointers from Jada Pohlen and Bekah Bowser. An offensive stick from Brooke Stover gave the hosts an 8-6 advantage, but the Student Princes scored the next seven points to lead 13-8. Consecutive baskets from Pohlen tied the game at 13-13, but a Hallie Rogers jumper gave Heidelberg a 15-13 advantage after 10 minutes.

The visitors took control in the second quarter as Wilmington played perhaps their worst quarter of the season. Heidelberg went 8 of 16 from the field while WC only hit 3 of 18. WC trailed 36-21 at intermission.

It was still 45-33 Heidelberg before Wilmington surged into third. Pohlen, Jaylah Captain and Kennedy Lewis scored late as Wilmington went 47-40 heading into the final quarter.

Wilmington played one of its best quarterbacks in the fourth. Heidelberg was held to four points on just 1 of 11 shots. The Student Princes’ lone field goal came with less than a minute left. Offensively, the Quakers scored 21 points including 11 from Lewis. The Springboro native gave WC a 48-47 lead with seven minutes left and an old-school Pohlen three-pointer followed. Lotz then put the hosts up 53-47 and a three-point Elise Carpenter all but put the game away.

Bekah Bowser | Photo by John Swartzel

Cassidy Lovett | Photo by John Swartzel

Kennedy Lewis | Photo by John Swartzel

Lakaïa Lotz | Photo by John Swartzel