News Release
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Second Half Run Propels Lady Wildcats to Second Straight Win, 61-52, Over Washington Adventist
WBB: Wilmington 61 - Washingotn Adventist 52
A late second half run, highlighted by a Lauren Brown three-pointer to take the lead, gave the Wilmington University women’s basketball team its second win in a row as it defeated Washington Adventist, 61-52, on Thursday night in the WU Athletics Complex.
Trailing by a point at the halftime break, the Wildcats (2-8 overall) came out and outscored the Shock (1-8 overall) by 10 points in the second stanza to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time since winning four straight from February 20-28 in the 2009-10 season.
A Washington Adventist three-point gave the Lady Shock their biggest lead of the night at 35-27 with 14:13 to play in regulation, but it was all Wildcats from there as they turned up the pressure and the scoring in front of its home crowd.
Trailing by five points and 12:40 to play, Tashea Plummer started the rally with jumper before Tenicia Spence nailed a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 39 with 11:44 showing on the scoreboard. Two possessions later, Brown hit her first of two three-points in the second half, giving the Wildcats the lead for good with 11:44 to play.
The Shock cut the deficit to as close as one point, but could not get over the hump as the Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run, capped by another three-pointer from Brown to make it 50-41 with 6:11 left. Auryonah Nash push the lead to double digits for the first time on the night with a pair of free throws, 52-42, at the 5:18 mark and Wilmington was able to coast to the finish line for its second win of the year.
Taylor Carter iced the game down the stretch, sinking all four of her chances from the charity stripe with her final one pushing the lead to 12 with only 12 seconds in the match.
The win, in front of the team’s Pen Pals from Pleasantville Elementary School, gave the team its first 2-0 start at home since the 2008-09 team went 3-0 at home to start the season.
Spence led the Wildcats with 14 points on the night, shooting 5-for-12 from the floor but 2-for-3 from beyond the three-point arc. Carter followed with 12 points on 3-for-8 shooting while hitting all four of her foul shots. Plummer was the final Wildcat in double digits, scoring 11 points off the bench while grabbing a team high eight rebounds. Spence also collected eight rebounds on the night.
Brown ended with eight points for the game, but hit her two three-pointers when it mattered most down the stretch. The junior also led the team with four assists.
Wilmington held the Shock to a 28.4 shooting percentage and out rebounded the visitors, 50-45, for only the second time all season. The Wildcats went 22-for-62 (35.5 percent) from the floor, including an outstanding 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from three-point territory.
The Wildcats put their back-to-back wins on the line on Saturday as they head to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division foe Felician on Saturday. The Golden Falcons are 2-6 overall, coming off a win at Bloomfield on Tuesday. Game time is schedule for 1 p.m.
Game Notes:
In conjunction with Wilmington University Student Life, the women’s basketball team set up a pre-game meet and greet with their fifth grade Pen Pals from Pleasantville Elementary. The team gave each student a goody-bag full of gifts including Wilmington foam fingers and pom-poms very visible as they waved them from the stands during the game.
