NEWARK, Del. - - An early run to start the second half cut the Wilmington University women's basketball deficit to five points, but the University of the Sciences used its own scoring stretch to pull away and eventually take the 86-58 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The loss overshadows sophomore forward Tashea Plummer's performance who recorded the seventh most rebounds in a game in Wilmington's (3-14, 1-9 CACC) NCAA era. She finished with a team high 17 points and 17 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass. It is her second double-double in a row, also securing the feat on Tuesday against Goldey-Beacom. It is the third double-double by a Wildcat this season.
Trailing 42-33 at the halftime break, the Wildcats came out and used an 8-4 run to close the gap to within five points with 14:38 remaining in regulation. Plummer started the second half scoring with a pair of free throws before USciences (8-8, 6-3, CACC) extended the lead back out to 11 on a pair of jumpers. Freshman Tenicia Spence responded with a jumper of her own before junior Lauren Brown converted a layup to make it 46-37. After a steal by Plummer, Spence came down and hit another jumper to cut it to five points, the closest the game has been since the beginning of the contest.
But the next 7:30 minutes of game play would not be as appealing to the Wildcats.
The Devils began a run of their own, first starting with a 9-2 run before finishing with a 20-0 run to push the lead to 75-43 advantage with 7:08 showing on the clock. The Wildcats would only cut the deficit to less than 30 with under a minute to play. Plummer hit a bucket and converted the free-throw for a three point play and freshman Auryonah Nash completed the scoring with a foul shot to settle at the final score of 86-58.
All 11 players that saw action for the Devils found the scoring column, led by CACC leading scorer Brianne Traub's 22 point effort. Becca Ruggear added in 16 points while Elsebeth Birman chipped in with 14. Jessica Sylvester was the final Devil in double figures with 10.
Plummer reached her 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting while hitting all five of her free-throws. Spence was also in double digits for the Wildcats, scoring 14 points. Megan Fox came off the bench to record a career high 10 rebounds.
The Devils used a three-quarter court press to start the game on an 8-0 run and used it again in the second half which kick started the 29-2 run. The press always forced the Wildcats into the majority of their 29 turnovers. The Devils wound up with 20 steals on the game and turned the 29 turnovers into 44 points at the other end. The Wildcats scored 12 points off 19 USciences turnovers.
Wilmington returns to action on Tuesday as it heads to Georgian Court for another CACC battle. The Lions' defeated the Wildcats 66-55 in the final game before the Holiday Break earlier this season. The tip is slated for 6 p.m.
