ETTRICK, Va. - - Big first and third quarters carried Virginia State past the Wilmington University women's basketball team, 85-52, on Tuesday night in the VSU Multipurpose Center in the final game for the Wildcats before the holiday break.
The Trojans (5-5) scored 16 straight points in the first quarter to open a big lead and end the quarter leading 26-9. They then outscored the Wildcats (1-7), 25-17, in the third quarter to pull away and take the nonconference victory.
Sabreen Muslim scored the first two points of the game but then the Wildcats went scoreless for the next 2:53 while the Trojans shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the foul line to score 16 consecutive points and take a 16-2 lead.
Skylar Parris hit a free throw and Kiara Eubanks put in a layup as the Wildcats scored the first three points of the second quarter and another four straight from the foul line between Eubanks and Muslim brought the Wildcats back to within 33-18 with 7:55 to play in the second quarter. But the Trojans answered with a 7-1 run and then was able to take a 41-21 lead into the halftime break.
A pair of buckets from Sabreen Muslim and a jumper from Jade Roberts gave the Wildcats a 6-0 run early in the third quarter but the Trojans went on to outscore the Wildcats, 25-17, in the quarter and lead, 66-38, heading into the fourth.
Virginia State took their largest lead of the game at the 5:46 mark of the fourth before closing out the Wildcats with the 85-52 nonconference victory.
Sabreen Muslim scored her 1,000th collegiate career point tonight, combining two seasons at Howard Community College and two seasons at Wilmington. She finished with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, adding three blocks as well.
Kiara Eubanks scored 10 points and had a team high four steals while Amaja Mack scored six points and added a team high four assists.
The Wildcats closed out their nonconference schedule tonight and are now off until the end of the month when they get into the bulk of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference schedule. They head to Georgian Court on Thursday, December 30, opening a CACC doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. in the Wellness Center.