WILMINGTON, Ohio—The Mount Union women's basketball team opened Ohio Athletic Conference play defeating Wilmington on the road 66-45 Saturday afternoon.
 
The Purple Raiders (4-2, 1-0 OAC) were led on offense by freshman Reese Triplett (New Philadelphia Tuskey Valley Central Catholic) with 11 points while sophomore McKayla Dunkle (Cadiz / Harrison Central) tied her career-high with 11 rebounds while scoring eight points as well.
 
Wilmington (1-6, 0-2 OAC) was led by Olivia Trusty with 11 points while Sydney Capen finished with two blocks.
 
FIRST QUARTER
Mount Union jumped out to a 7-0 run in the first 3:30 of the game with a three pointer from junior Hailey Haywood (Barberton) and a layup each from freshman Elizabeth Mason (Alliance / Marlington) and Dunkle. Wilmington over the final six minutes responded with a 11-2 run to take a 11-9 lead into the quarter break.
 
SECOND QUARTER
The Raiders grabbed the lead back in the second with an 8-0 run in just a 1:28 span as Triplett hit two threes and junior Ali Hudik (Mentor / Lake Catholic) had a layup. Wilmington got five quick points to bring the game within one but a 14-0 run with five different scorers over a 5:02 period gave Mount Union a 31-16 lead. Wilmington grabbed the last bucket at the half as Mount Union led 31-16.
 
THIRD QUARTER
Wilmington got the first bucket of the second half but then Mount Union went on a 16-4 run as freshman Tess Conroy (Valley View / Cuyahoga Heights) and senior Lily Sweeney (Sylvania / Sylvania Northview) each scored five points in the run to take its largest lead of the day at 47-24. Both teams over the final 2:37 scored seven points each as Mount Union took a 54-31 lead into the final quarter.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
Mount Union used an 8-3 run through the first half of the final quarter to grab its largest lead of the game at 62-34. Wilmington finished the game on an11-4 run but was not enough with Mount Union winning 66-45.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Mount Union had the lead for 37:15 while Wilmington led for 1:52. Both teams had 11 different scorers as Mount Union's starters outscored Wilmington 39-17. Mount Union had three more rebounds 50 to 47, four more assists 14 to 10 and three more steals (12 to 9).
 
The Raiders return home taking on OAC foe in Muskingum on Wednesday with a 7 PM tip off.