WILMINGTON, Del. - - An early second half run to cut the deficit to single digits ran out of gas for the Wilmington University women's basketball team as Goldey-Beacom ran away with a 71-44 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory on Tuesday night at the Joseph West Jones Center.
Coming out of the halftime break trailing by 12 points, the Wildcats (3-13, 1-8 CACC) scored eight of the first 13 points to close the gap to within nine but Goldey-Beacom (10-7, 7-1 CACC) withstood the Wildcats' run and went on to stretch the lead to as many as 27 with the final score.
After being down by as many as 16 in the first half, the Wildcats clawed back to stay within striking distance. Danielle Thomas hit her lone three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to 13 before a steal and a fastbreak layup from Cari Callaway cut the Lightning lead to 11. Amanda Walters capped the scoring run with a layup of her own, making it a 26-17 game with 5:19 to play in the first half.
The Wildcats would remain at a safe distance from the Lightning for the rest of the half, as the teams went back and forth before a jumper from Lauren Brown put the Wildcats 12 behind with the final bucket of the half, 33-21.
Brown came out of the halftime break and scored the first basket of the second stanza before back-to-back baskets from Callaway and Tashea Plummer cut the deficit to nine at 38-29 with 16:24 showing on the scoreboard. Plummer, who collected her first double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds, connected on a jumper three minutes later to again close the gap to nine, but that would be as close as the Wildcats would get.
Goldey-Beacom responded with a 12-3 run of its own over the next five minutes, extending its lead to 56-36 with 7:25 left in regulation. The Lightning would eventually take their largest lead at 69-42 with 1:29 remaining and settled for a 71-44 final score.
Plummer recorded the team's second double-double of the season, following Allison McDonald's 12 point and 11 rebound performance against Lancaster Bible on December 13. Brown was the only other Wildcat in double digits, scoring a team high 13 points. McDonald and Callaway added six points each while McDonald finished with seven boards.
On the night in which Lightning senior Devonne Richardson was honored for becoming only the second player in school history to score 1,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds, the senior tallied four steals to set the school record with 210 career steals.
The Wildcats will look to snap a three-game losing streak this Saturday, squaring off against University of the Sciences at 1 p.m. The Wildcats dropped an 81-63 decision to the Devils earlier this season on November 28.