Goldey-Beacom Starts Hot in Defeating Wilmington Women’s Basketball, 81-65

Copyright 2017; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo of Jocelyn Rodriguez, taken by Frank Stallworth.
Copyright 2017; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo of Jocelyn Rodriguez, taken by Frank Stallworth.

WILMINGTON, Del. - - Goldey-Beacom had a hard time missing from deep in the first half, carrying the Lightning to an 81-65 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory over the Wilmington University women's basketball team on Saturday night at the Joseph West Jones Center.

With the loss, the Wildcats will need to defeat Philadelphia in the regular season finale on Tuesday night for a spot in the CACC Tournament. The Wildcats are now 12-15 overall, 9-9 in the CACC. Goldey-Beacom now needs to defeat Chestnut Hill on Tuesday night to clinch the CACC South Division's second seed. The Lightning are 16-11 overall, 12-6 in the CACC.

The Lightning caught fire from deep in the first quarter, knocking down six three-points on their way to 25 points and a 10-point lead. The Lightning hit two more in the second quarter and finished 8-for-15 from deep in the first half, shooting 16-for-35 from the floor as a whole. The Wildcats went into the half trailing 42-30.

The Wildcats closed the gap to 10 points on multiple occasions in the third quarter, but could never get the deficit to single digits as the Lightning had an answer for every run. Jasmine Lee first brought the Wildcats to within 51-41 but the Lightning answered with back-to-back buckets. Jocelyn Rodriguez hit a free throw to close the gap to 58-48, but the Lightning were once again next on the board. The Wildcats won the third quarter, 22-21, but were still down 63-52 heading into the final frame.

Jasmine Lee hit a floater from the baseline to bring the Wildcats to within 65-55 early in the fourth and had a good look at a three-pointer to get to within seven points on the next possession. But her shot rimmed out and the Lightning came down the court and hit a three-pointer of their own, breaking the backs of the Wildcats.

The lead would grow to as large as 20 points in the fourth quarter before settling on the final score, 81-65.

LaShyra Williams led the Wildcats with 16 points while Macy Robinson finished with a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmine Lee came off the bench to score 14 points while Rodriguez added nine points, and five rebounds.

The Wildcats shot 38.6 percent from the field and missed 11 free throws, shooting 20-of-31 from the charity stripe. Goldey-Beacom shot 43.9 percent from the floor, including going 13-of-30 from beyond the three-point arc. The Lightning also out-rebounded the Wildcats, 46-33.

The winner of the Wildcats and Rams game on Tuesday night will earn the CACC South Division's fourth and final berth into the CACC Tournament. The opening tip is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Philadelphia.