Wheaton Women's Basketball Tops Apprentice School

Led by three players scoring in double-digits, the Wheaton College women's basketball team defeated the Apprentice School, 70-64, in the consolation round of the sixth annual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, hosted by York (Pa.) College, at the Charles Wolf Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. 

Freshman forward Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) posted her second-straight double-double with a team-high 19 points, ten rebounds (three offensive) and three blocks. Sophomore forward Abbie Brickley (Sandy, Utah/Skyline) nearly recorded a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds while senior Jana Jagodzinski (Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) added 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

For her efforts in the two-day tournament, Brickley was named to the All-Tournament Team. Brickley averaged 14.0 points, a .619 field goal percentage and 5.0 rebounds in 54 minutes.

Wheaton shot a season-high 87.0-percent at the free throw line (20-for-23), converted 24-of-49 attempts from the field (49.0-percent) and went 2-of-13 (15.4-percent) from beyond the arc. The Lyons outscored the Builders, 40-36, in the paint and tied in bench points, 26-26. 

Jagodzinski led all players off the bench with her 12 points in 13 minutes of action. Sophomore Kirsten Ferrari (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) contributed eight points on 3-of-6 shooting including one 3-pointer and a 1-for-3 showing at the line. 

Freshman guard Kenya Wilkerson (Richmond, Va./Hermitage)collected a game-high 24 points off of the bench for the Apprentice School. Wilkerson also filled out the rest of the stat sheet grabbing eight caroms, swiping four steals and dishing out three assists. Senior guard Tysheka Simpson (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville)scored 16 points and sophomore guard Shanae Hilliard (Alamogordo, N.M./Alamogordo) had ten points and five rebounds. 

The Builders went 40.3-percent (27-for-67) from the field, 0-for-8 from long distance and 58.8-percent at the charity stripe. The Apprentice School also held a 28-14 advantage in points off of turnovers as its opposition committed 31 total on the afternoon. 

Wheaton took a 36-32 lead into halftime after Brickley led the Lyons with 12 points in the first stanza on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

The Lyons opened up the second half on a 19-7 run in the first nine minutes and 55-seconds of play as Shoemaker took over scoring 11 points during that stretch. Overall in the second stanza, Shoemaker notched 15 points, went 9-for-10 from the free throw line, grabbed nine boards and had three blocks. 

The Apprentice School chipped away at its largest deficit of the game, 55-39, with 10:55 remaining using a 20-9 run to come within five points (64-59) at the 1:36 mark on a layup from Wilkerson. Wheaton closed out the contest with a layup by Brickley (17-seconds) and a pair of free throws from Shoemaker and Jagodzinski. 

Both teams exchanged the lead three times in the game, all in the first half. The Lyons never trailed in the contest after regaining a 32-31 lead off of a Brickley jumper with 2:30 left to play in the opening stanza. 

Wheaton (5-5, 2-2 NEWMAC) visits Mount Holyoke on Saturday, January 5 in a conference clash at 1 p.m. The Apprentice School (5-6) travels to Southern Virginia University on Tuesday, January 8 with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m.

All-Tournament Team

MVP: Aja Wallpher - York
Brittany Hicks - York
Candice Vigo - TCNJ
Abbie Brickley - Wheaton
Tysheka Simpson - Apprentice