A blistering start to the second half allowed the Wilmington University women's basketball team to take down Dominican, 79-64, for their first win over the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foe since the 2009-10 season on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex.
The win was the fifth CACC victory for the Wildcats (7-16, 5-10 CACC), already the most conference victories in head coach Tiffany Silver's three seasons and the most since the team went 12-7 in 2009-10. The loss drops the Lady Chargers to 10-13 overall and 8-6 in the CACC, still in third place in the CACC North Division.
The Wildcats broke a 22-22 first half tie with 8:14 to play and took a 36-31 lead at the halftime break.
Wilmington stormed out of the gates in the second half, scoring the first seven points to grab a 43-31 lead with 18:23 left in regulation. Tenicia Spence hit an opening three-pointer before Zameria Jones and Katara Pressley put home layups on the run.
After the Chargers finally got on the board in the second half, the Wildcats went on another 12-0 run, widening the lead to as large as 55-33 with 14:22 to play in regulation. Taylor Carter and Spence hit three-pointers during the run, as good ball movement through the offense found Jennifer Carr wide open for a pair of layups as well.
Still holding 16, the Chargers made a move with less than eight minutes to play. Dominican's Lashonda Hathorne cut the deficit to within single digits, 64-55 with a layup with 6:55 to play before Jacqueline Rywalt had the visitors to as few as seven, 66-59, with 5:22 showing on the scoreboard.
But the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run of their own to open the lead back out to 14, bringing an end to the Charger comeback bid.
Senior Cari Callaway came off the bench to score 19 points for the second consecutive game, shooting 7-for-12 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three-point territory. Spence finished with 18 points, hitting 5-of-8 from deep while Carr led the inside game with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Wilmington shot 15-of-33 from the field in each half, finishing at a 45.5 percent clip. The team hit 4-of-5 from deep in the second half to finish at 8-of-15 for the game. The Wildcats out rebounded the Chargers, 49-35, including a 19-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Wildcats remain at home for one more contest as they welcome USciences to the WU Athletics Complex on Tuesday for another CACC doubleheader. The women finish the twin bill with an approximate start at 8 p.m.
