Press release written by sports information intern Sam Hardy.
NEWARK, Del. - - A plethora of scoring in front of a packed house on Senior Night was not enough for the Wilmington University women's basketball team to get a win. They were defeated by Chestnut Hill College, 95-85, in central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action at the Wilmington University Athletics Complex on Wednesday evening.
The Wildcats (12-14, 9-8 CACC) were leading 25-17 after the first quarter, but failed to keep the pedal on the gas as the Griffins outscored them 22-10 in the second quarter. The Griffins (16-8, 11-6 CACC) took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back, as they led the game for a total of 22:22 of the entire game. The lead changed only two times, as control was steadily maintained by Chestnut Hill once they took the lead.
The Griffins shot an impressive 51.5 percent in this game, hitting 79.2 percent of their free throws, which proved to be important at the end of the game. The away team scored a total of 44 points in the paint, compared to the Wildcats' 24 points. The Wildcats were able to stick around by forcing the Griffins into 25 turnovers, turning them into 27 points at the other end.
LaShyra Williams led the Wildcats in scoring tonight with 25 points, and 10 rebounds for the double-double. Williams was the only Wildcat to play all 40 minutes. Macy Robinson hit four three-pointers, three of which came in the first half, which helped her accumulate a total of 16 points. Jasmine Lee also joined in on the high scoring contest with 17 points of her own. Although the box score shows that Wilmington didn't hold a lead since the second quarter, they kept it close by never letting the lead get larger than 10 points.
Trailing by 10 points with 8:41 left in regulation, the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run to close to within 73-69 with 6:32 to play. Down seven once more, the Wildcats went on another 7-1 spurt to close to within 77-76 with 4:28 showing on the clock.
Down four points, Nyree Grant missed a layup from point blank with just under two minute to play and the Wildcats were never able to recover. The Griffins scored the next five points and extended the lead back out to as many as 10 point before settling on the final.
There were playoff implications on tonight's game, as the Wildcats had a chance to possibly move eerily close to the second and third place spots in the CACC. With the loss they sit two games back of Goldey-Beacom and Chestnut Hill in the second and third spots, respectively, in the conference.
Jocelyn Rodriguez played 39 minutes and scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds, added three steals, and led the team in assists with four. The tenacity and intensity was certainly there for the Wildcats, as they had a team total of 16 steals.
The Wildcats travel to crosstown rivals Goldey-Beacom on Saturday with a chance to stay in front of Philadelphia for the fourth and final playoff spot form the South Division. The opening tip is set for 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night at the Jones Center.
