RUTHERFORD, N.J. - - A slow start to the first half doomed the Wilmington University women's basketball team as it saw its two-game win streak come to an end, 77-53, Saturday afternoon at Felician inside Job Gym.
Looking to win its second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game, the Wildcats (2-9, 1-4 CACC) fell flat after starting the game with the first three-pointer and took a 5-4 lead with 17:27 to play in the opening half. Felician (3-6, 3-1 CACC) used a 20-5 run over the final 10 minutes of the half to take a 24 point lead into the locker room.
Freshman Tenicia Spence again led the squad with 22 points, getting eight points from the foul line (8-for-10) and hitting a pair of three-pointers on the afternoon. Her first trey opened the scoring for the contest, giving the Wildcats a 3-0 lead 1:44 into the match.
The Golden Falcons were led by three players who scored in double-figures, paced by the 21 points off the hand of Trina Plummer. Gisell Peguero and Keisha Jean-Louis also helped the home team by scoring 12 points each. Mary Chishold finished with game high 13 rebounds.
Felician stretched its lead to as large as 29 points halfway through the second half before the visitors were able to make a run and cut the deficit in half. Slowly chopping into the lead, junior Callie Tambling cut it to its closest margin at 15 with her second of two three-pointers in the game with 4:58 to play. But that is as close as the Golden Falcons would allow the Wildcats to get, as they stretched the lead back out to 26 before settling on the final score of 77-53.
Wilmington was held to a 22.6 shooting percentage from the floor, but hit four three-pointers while holding the Falcons to only 3-of-18 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats also hit 21-of-30 (70 percent) compared to Felician's 20-for-38 (52.6 percent) from the foul line.
Megan Fox led the Wildcats with eight rebounds, including two on the offensive glass, but Felician outrebounded the Wildcats 60-37 to outscore the visitors 21-10 on second chance points.
The Wildcats return to the friendly confines of the WU Athletics Complex, where they are a perfect 2-0 on the year, for their next matchup. They will face cross-town rival Goldey-Beacom on Monday in the night cap of a double-header starting at 8 p.m.