PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The sharp shooting Wilmington University women's basketball team raced out to a large lead and cruised to an 83-69 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division victory over Holy Family on Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center Gym.
It's the second straight CACC win for the Wildcats (8-12, 5-6 CACC) and the first time since the 2009 CACC Tournament Quarterfinals that they took down the Tigers (5-14, 4-7 CACC).
After the Tigers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, the Wildcats scored the next eight points and never looked back, leading the rest of the way in the victory.
The Wildcats ended up outscoring the Tigers, 27-19, in the first quarter, shooting 57.9 percent from the floor on 11-of-19 shooting. Macy Robinson hit all three of her three-pointers in the quarter, going 4-of-5 from the floor for a game high 11 points in the first 10 minutes. Ebonee Dixon shot 4-of-6 from the floor for nine points.
The visitors cooled off slightly in the second quarter, but shot 44.4 percent from the floor (8-of-18) to outscore the Tigers, 18-13, and go into the halftime break leading 45-32.
The Tigers closed the gap to as few as six points on a few occasions in the third quarter, but an 8-2 Wildcats run towards the end of the quarter put the Wildcats back in front, 59-47. Jasmine Lee capped the run with a layup with 1:20 left in the quarter. The Wildcats went into the fourth quarter leading 61-53.
A 7-2 Tiger run to start the fourth quarter brought the home team to within 63-60 with 8:17 left, but the Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run of their own to expand the lead back out to 71-60 with 4:17 showing on the clock. Robinson's fifth and final three-pointer of the game gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 76-62, with 1:58 remaining in regulation.
LaShyra Williams finished with a game-high 24 points, shooting 10-of-17 from the floor while adding four steals. Robinson finished with 19 points, finishing 7-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the three-point line. She also added a team-high seven rebounds, tying with Dixon for the team lead. Dixon chipped in with 15 points as well, while Lee added 12 points off the bench.
The Wildcats have six days to prepare for their next contest, as they head to Concordia for a CACC cross-divisional contest next Saturday. The women open the CACC doubleheader with a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.