Press Release Written by Mitchell Coll

NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's basketball team dropped a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference cross-divisional matchup to the Bloomfield College Bears, 56-33, at the WU Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats (2-19, 1-10 CACC) defense was a factor in the first half. Wilmington held the Bears (40-17, 3-9 CACC) to nine points in the first quarter. Amaja Mack, Jade Roberts, and Amber Washington registered a steal in the first period. The Wildcats' defense also limited the Bears to a shooting percentage of 25 percent in the first period.

The Wildcats produced their best offensive period in the second. The Wildcats went 45.5 percent from the field and 100 percent from the line. Fatou Ndao earned her way to the free-throw line to open up the scoring for the Wildcats, sinking both with 8:14 left to play. Jade Roberts gave the Wildcats lead with 6:18 to play with a layup from an offensive rebound, making the score 13-12 'Cats. With four minutes to play in the first half, Daja Claiborne made both foul shots to push the Wildcat's lead to three, 17-14, with 4:07 to play. In the closing seconds of the half, Amber Washington collected an offensive rebound and hit a jump shot to regain the lead for the Wildcats by two points. However, Bloomfield's Tiara Mahorn was able to sink a three-pointer by beating the buzzer to give the Bears a one-point lead going into the half, 24-23.

The Bears opened the second half by scoring six unanswered points. Fatou Ndao scored the first basket for the Wildcats in the second half by collecting an offensive board and laying the ball back in the basket. Another offensive rebound led to another basket for the Wildcats as Daja Claiborne followed a miss to convert a layup with 3:36 left to play in the third quarter. The Wildcats went into the fourth trailing by eight points, 39-31.

Fatou Ndao made the only basket for the Wildcats in the fourth quarter, scoring a layup with three minutes to play. Ndao led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and five blocks. Jade Roberts also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Daja Claiborne and Amber Washington both added five points.

The Wildcats will be on the road to Philadelphia to take on the Jefferson University Rams on Wednesday, February 8. The opening tip is set for 8:00 PM.