RICHMOND, Ind. — The
Earlham College women’s basketball team had three players in double figures on Wednesday as the Quakers defeated North Coast Athletic Conference foe
Denison University 71-68 on
Schuckman Court in the Athletics and
Wellness Center.
Michelle Miranda had a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds, while
Nikki Darrett and
Jessica Wooden finished with 10 points each.
"One of our goals is to put an entire game together," Earlham Head Coach Liana Coutts said. "The closer we get to that the more competitive we are. I believe this game was a result of doing that."
Both teams held small leads early in the contest, but an 8-0 run midway through the opening period put the Quakers on top.
Trailing 12-9, Earlham’s run ended with a basket by
Charvonne Long that gave the Quakers a 17-12 advantage with 11:06 left in the first half.
From that point, the Quakers went on to build a 40-24 lead by intermission.
In the second half, Earlham was able to maintain its distance from
Denison until the Quakers got stuck on 56 points. Wooden hit a pair of free throws to put the Quakers on top 56-41 with 11:49 left to play in the contest.
By the 8:41 mark,
Denison had rallied to cut Earlham’s lead to 56-54. Miranda broke the run to give the Quakers a 58-54 lead at 7:59.
Kate Franks then hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 59-54 with just over six minutes left.
The Big Red scored six straight points to take a 60-59 lead with 5:40 left. The teams then battled to a 66-66 tie with 1:51 on the clock.
After
Denison went in front 68-66, the Quakers scored the last five points to earn the victory. Franks scored with 28 seconds left to tie the game at 68-68.
Moments later, Earlham forced a turnover and Miranda hit a pair of free throws to give the Quakers a 70-68 advantage with 18 seconds left.
Earlham forced another
Denison miscue and with 12 seconds remaining,
Jayana Sims hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Quakers a three-point margin.
Denison (15-7, 7-6) failed to tie the game on its final possession and the Quakers celebrated the win.
The Quakers (3-19, 2-11) visit
Kenyon College on Saturday. The NCAC contest begins at 2 p.m.
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