CALDWELL, N.J. - - Freshman Jasmine Lee nearly finished with a double-double off the bench, scoring a team high 21 points while grabbing a team high nine rebounds but it wasn't enough as Caldwell took down the Wildcats, 88-60, to close out the Wildcats' 2013-14 season on Saturday afternoon at the George R. Newman Center.
The Wildcats (9-19, 5-14 CACC) played a tough opening first half against the perennial North Division leading Cougars (16-9, 12-6 CACC), but Caldwell used a 10-0 run at the midway point to open the margin and secure the victory.
The game went back and forth through the first quarter of play, with Tenicia Spence giving the Wildcats a one point lead on a foul shot with 15:45 to play. After Caldwell responded with a layup, Cari Callaway sank a three-pointer to put the visitors on top 8-6 with 12:58 showing on the clock in the first half. Now trailing, Lee brought the Wildcats to within one point at 11-10 with 11:45 left before the Cougars went on their devastating run.
Wilmington went over five minutes of game time without scoring a point, while Caldwell tallied a 10-0 run and took a 21-10 lead before a Lee jumper put the Wildcats on the board once more with 6:42 showing on the scoreboard.
Now only trailing by eight after another free throw from Spence, the Wildcats saw the Cougars rattle off seven straight points to take another commanding 15 point lead with 4:25 to play in the first half. After back and forth play, Caldwell's Nicole Angelo scored the final bucket of the half with 12 seconds remaining to put the home team ahead 37-21 before heading into the locker room for the halftime break.
Out of the halftime gates, the Wildcats received a bucket from senior Allison McDonald to start things off, followed by a pair of free throws from Spence, and another good layup from McDonald to close to within 12 at 39-27 with 17:27 left in regulation. Lauren Brown cut the deficit to 12 again with 16:53 to play, but that would be as close as the Wildcats could come, as Caldwell turned on the jets and went on another 9-0 run.
Spence finished with 15 points for the Wildcats, finishing her sophomore season 12 points shy of the 1,000 point plateau. Spence also dished out a team high six assists and took away four steals. Senior Kathryn Franklin grabbed seven rebounds while classmate McDonald scored six points and grabbed three rebounds off the bench.
Caldwell shot 48.3 percent from the field, hitting 6-of-16 from beyond the three-point arc, while the Wildcats only shot 32.1 percent from the hitting, shooting 1-of-10 from deep. Caldwell also went to the charity stripe on 34 occasions, sinking 24 free throws as compared to the Wildcats 13 attempts, and nine makes.
Caldwell was led by Jeanette Anderson's double-double of 24 points and 19 rebounds, shooting 10-of-13 from the foul line. Emily Caswell added 17 points while Alyssa James chipped in with 10 points off the bench for the Cougars.