Press Release Written by Mitchell Coll
NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's basketball team lost a tightly contested Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division matchup to the Chestnut Hill Griffins, 50-44, Tuesday evening at the WU Athletics Complex.
Wilmington (2-18, 1-9 CACC) displayed good ball control in the first quarter of action. The Wildcats went 7-of-14 from the field and 1-for-1 from beyond the arc. Amber Washington was responsible for seven of the Wildcats' 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Wildcats opened the game firing on all cylinders scoring on their first three possessions. Daja Claiborne connected on jump shots on back-to-back possessions, followed by a jump shot made by Jade Roberts with 8:12 left in the first. Amber Washington pushed the lead to at most seven points with a three-pointer with 4:24 left to make the score 11-4 Wildcats. After the Washington three, the Griffins closed the quarter by outscoring the 'Cats 7-4.
Midway through the second quarter Amaja Mack was able to tie the game at 19 apiece with a made jump shot from an assist by Fatou Ndao. A couple of possessions later, Jade Roberts connected on a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a one-point lead, 24-23, with a minute left to play. However, the Griffins snuck in a layup to go into the half-up by one point, 25-24.
The Wildcats came out into the second half by scoring on their first possession from a made jump shot by Amber Washington from an assist by Amaja Mack. After that, Fatou Ndao found her way to the line four times in the third quarter and made all four. Roberts connected on another three-point shot with a little over four minutes in the third to put the Wildcats up by three points, 33-30. A minute was left to play in the third quarter, and the game was tied at 33; a Fatou Ndao jumper gave the Wildcats the lead near the baseline, 35-33.
With under six minutes left to play in the game, the Wildcats found themselves in a tie game at 39 apiece. The Griffins then scored five straight points with under four minutes left to play. Jade Roberts connected on another three to keep the Wildcats within two with 3:24 left to play. The Griffins went on a 6-2 run with the remainder of play to win the game 50-44.
Three Wildcat players, Daja Claiborne, Fatou Ndao, and Amber Washington, played all 40 minutes tonight. Jade Roberts finished with 15 points, including five rebounds, three assists, and three of six shooting from beyond the arc. Fatou Ndao added 12 points, seven boards, two assists, and five blocks. Ndao's five blocks were two shy of the program record for blocks in a game, set by Nordia Henry versus Nyack College in the 2004-05 season.
The Wildcats will be back home to host Bloomfield on Saturday, February 4, at the WU Athletics Complex. Tip-off is set for 1:00