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NEWARK, Del. - - An 18-0 run to start the second quarter carried the Wilmington University women's basketball team to its first win of the season, defeating Penn State Brandywine, 69-34, on Monday night at the WU Athletics Complex.
Not only was Monday night the first win of the season for the Wildcats (1-23), but it will also go down as the first collegiate coaching victory for first-year head coach Dave Cranston. The defense held Penn State Brandywine to 16.7 percent shooting from the floor for the game and had 19 points off 20 PSUB turnovers.
The Wildcats started the game by scoring the first 11 points, getting a three-pointer from Aniyah Bond and buckets from TyKeisha Hill, Jasmine McDuffie, Emma Brown, and Daja Claiborne. The Lions (2-23) hit a three-pointer to end the first quarter.
Leading 11-3 after the first quarter, the Wildcats scored the first 18 points of the second quarter to take a 29-3 lead with 2:06 to play before the half. Hill scored back-to-back buckets and then Jasmine McDuffie hit back-to-back three-pointers before Armani Bell-Jackson scored five straight with a three-pointer and two technical foul free throws to make it 29-3. Claiborne hit another jumper in the lane before the Wildcats took a 31-5 lead into the locker room.
The Lions started the third quarter on an 8-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 19 points, but then the Wildcats settled back in and went on a 17-0 run to reestablish control. TyKeisha Hill scored six of the first nine points of the run and then Armani Bell-Jackson scored five straight herself as well.
An Emma Brown layup early in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the night, 54-16, as the Wildcats would go on and win the fourth quarter, 19-18, to close out the contest.
TyKeisha Hill and Armani Bell-Jackson led the Wildcats with 16 points each while Jasmine McDuffie secured a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Emma Brown scored eight points while leading the team with 11 rebounds. Daja Claiborne scored nine points to go with nine rebounds while Mya Nisbet dished out four assists. Aniyah Bond chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds as well.
The Wildcats are back in action on Wednesday night when they head to Felician for a makeup game against Felician. The conference game is set for a 6:00 p.m. start.
