WILMINGTON, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's basketball team hit a season's best 12 three-pointers and scored a season high 59 points but dropped the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division battle at Goldey-Beacom, 80-59, on Saturday afternoon at the Joseph West Jones Center.
The Wildcats (0-9, 0-2 CACC) shot 12-of-29 form three-point territory, with six of them coming from Jasmine McDuffie. But it was a Goldey-Beacom (1-7, 1-1 CACC) second quarter score of 24-14 that allowed the home team to pull away and secure its first victory of the year.
The Lightning scored the first six points of the game before Jasmine McDuffie and Aniyah Bond tied it with back-to-back three-pointers, 6-6. Aniyah Bond put in a layup to make it 9-8, but the Lightning rallied to take their first double-digit lead, 22-12. Jasmine McDuffie hit another three-pointer to end the quarter, as the home team led, 22-15, at the end of the first quarter.
Armani Bell-Jackson cut the deficit to 26-20 with a three-pointer before McDuffie hit another to make it 30-23, but then the Lightning went on an 8-0 run to expand the lead. Another 8-0 pushed the Lightning's lead out to 46-25. Mya Nisbet hit a three-pointer and Daja Clairborne put in a free throw to end the scoring in the half, sending the Wildcats into the locker room trailing 46-29.
Emma Brown put in a layup followed by an Aniyah Bond three-pointer towards the end of the third quarter to bring the Wildcats to within 16 points, but the Lighting scored back-to-back buckets with under 30 seconds to play to give the home team a 67-47 lead into the fourth.
Mya Nisbet hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats, but it was tough for the Wildcats to cut into the 20-point deficit in the final frame.
Jasmine McDuffie led the Wildcats with 19 points, hitting 6-of-8 from three-point land in the game. Mya Nisbet, Aniyah Bond, and Armani Bell-Jackson all scored nine points for the Wildcats with Bond grabbing seven rebounds as well. Emma Brown led the team with 12 rebounds, adding six points.
The Lightning shot 45.9 percent from the floor for the game, including hitting 11 three-pointers of their own. Rory Ciszkowski hit seven three-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points.
The Wildcats wrapped up CACC play prior to the Holiday Break on Saturday, but returns to nonconference action next week, starting with Cheyney on Wednesday night. The opening tip is set for 6:00 p.m. at the WU Athletics Complex.