BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - - Freshman guard Tenicia Spence extended her streak of scoring 20 or more points to five straight games, but the Wilmington University women's basketball team fell to Bloomsburg, 96-55, in nonconference action in Nelson Field House on Monday night.
Playing their first eight games on the road to start the 2012-13 season, the Wildcats (0-6) are looking forward to coming home and opening the brand new WU Athletics Complex on Tuesday, December 4. Bloomsburg, who received votes in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, moved to 3-0 on the season after also defeating Chestnut Hill and Lincoln (Pa.) to open the season.
Spence, who has scored 20 or more points in all but the first game of the season, again led the Wildcats with a season high 23 points on 9-for-20 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from the foul line. The freshman scored 19 points in the season opener against Bridgeport but has since scored no less than 20 in each of the following five games to lead the Wildcats in scoring with 20.8 points per game average.
Bloomsburg opened the scoring with a layup from Lauren Ellis at the 26 second mark and never looked back. The Wildcats tied the game, 2-2, 39 second later but another Ellis layup gave the Huskies the lead for good. The Huskies quickly extended the lead out to double digits for the first time with 15:29 remaining in the first half and held as large a lead as 32 points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Wildcats went on a 12-0 run to end the game, started by a jumper from Spence with 3:04 to play in regulation, but it was too little too late for the visitors. Following Spence's jumper, senior Danielle Thomas knocked home a pair of free throws before Spence followed suit with a pair of her own from the charity stripe with 1:38 to play.
Freshman Tiaja Harrold hit her lone three-pointer of the game in the run before Spence finished the scoring with a bucket and a foul, completing the old-fashioned three-point play with 39 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
Getting her first start as a Wildcat, junior transfer Callie Tambling was the only other Wildcat to pick up double-digit points, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Three of her makes came from beyond the three-point arc, as she hit on 3-of-4 attempts from downtown.
Harrold hit her lone three point attempt of the evening and scored six points for the match, but also collected a team high seven rebounds in 22 minutes. Taylor Carter came off the bench to score six points and add a team high three assists in 21 minutes.
The Wildcats remain on the road for two more contests, getting back to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action with a divisional matchup against University of the Sciences on Wednesday and a cross division battle at Post on Saturday.