NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's basketball celebrated its two seniors prior to the final game of the 2012-13 season against Philadelphia on Saturday at the WU Athletics Complex and one senior nearly led the Wildcats to an upset before falling, 86-68.
Playing in her final game as a Wildcat (3-23, 1-18 CACC), Danielle Thomas led the team with 26 points, hitting seven three-pointers and going 9-for-15 from the floor. Wilmington took as large as a 16 point lead in the opening 20 minutes before the Rams (13-12, 9-9 CACC) clawed back to take the victory.
Sophomore Tashea Plummer came off the bench to score 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds. The Wildcats shot 16-for-37 (43.2 percent) in the first half, leading to a 40-38 halftime lead.
Philadelphia was led by senior Taylor Peltzer who came off the bench and tallied a career high 26 points on 9-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc. Monica Schacker added 15 points by hitting three three-pointers and freshman Tori Arnao collected a double-double with 12 points and a game high 11 rebounds. Najah Jacobs dished out a game high 10 assists for the Rams.
The Wildcats came out firing on all cylinders to start the game, taking the lead with a try from Thomas on the first possession and never looking back. Not even five minutes into the contest, the Wildcats held a double digit lead, as Plummer hit a layup to give the home team a 13-2 lead with 15:22 left in the half.
They used a 7-0 run to grab a 23-8 run with 11:39 left on the scoreboard, capped by a three-pointer from junior Lauren Brown. After the Rams cut the deficit to 10 points, back-to-back three-pointers by Thomas gave the Wildcats its largest lead of the game at 29-13 with 10:03 before the half.
Still holding onto a 14 point lead with 5:02 to play, the Rams clawed back to tie the game using a 14-0 run to tie the game at 38-38 with 37 seconds to play. Junior Allison McDonald ended the Philadelphia run in a big way, hitting a jumper right before the half to give the Wildcats the lead once again and subdue the Rams momentum swing.
Thomas again came out of the gates firing in the second half, hitting back-to-back three-pointers in the first minute of action to extend the Wildcat lead out to eight points at 46-38. But back came the Rams once again, erasing the lead altogether once again on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 46 with 17:14 to play in regulation.
With the lead back out to four points for the Wildcats, Peltzer took over, hitting a three pointer and hitting a layup on back-to-back possessions to give the Rams the lead. They would not give up the lead for the rest of the game.
From the Wildcats' last lead at 50-49 at 15:56, the Rams outscored the home team 37-18 to close out the game.
Brown dished out seven assists for the Wildcats while Kathryn Franklin grabbed a team high eight rebounds in the loss.
Philadelphia went 25-for-30 form the foul line for the game while the Wildcats only made it to the line on 10 separate occasions. Wilmington only connected on 5-of-10 from the free throw line.
Saturday was the final game for Thomas and classmate Amanda Walters, as both have put four years of dedication into the Wildcat women's basketball program. Both were honored prior to the game for their time as a Wildcat.