BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - - A late first half lead didn't hold and a second half comeback fell short as the Wilmington University women's basketball team dropped its final game the UB Tip-Off Classic against Molloy, 90-72, on Sunday afternoon in Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium.
The Wildcats (0-2) out rebounded the Golden Lions (1-1), 64-62, but couldn't stop Molloy late in the first half and early in the second half as the Lions opened a double digit lead.
Wilmington took a 21-20 lead with 7:08 left in the first half as Tashea Plummer laid one home. Tenicia Spence and Lauren Brown each converted on one of two free opportunities to make it 23-20 with 6:00 minutes remaining in the first half. Car Callaway hit a jumper to push the lead to five with 5:36 to play, before another jumper by Plummer and a layup by Spence made it 29-23 with 4:18 for the Wildcats biggest lead of the afternoon.
A pair of free throws by Danille Thomas kept the Wilmington lead at five with 3:43 remaining while yet another jumper by Plummer extended the lead back to five at 33-28 with 3:18 to play, before Molloy made its run.
From there, Molloy scored the final 14 points of the first half, capping the scoring with a layup by Ashley Addison with 14 seconds left to extend the Lions' lead to 42-33 heading into the halftime break.
After the halftime break, Molloy came out and scored the first five points of the second half as well to turn what was a five point lead by Wilmington with 3:18 to play into a 14 point deficit in a matter of 3:56 of game time.
After settling into the second half, the Wildcats made a push at the Lions cutting into a large chunk of the lead in the first five minutes. Trailing 49-35, the Wildcats went on a 14-3 run of their own to get within three at 52-49 with 15:17 remaining in regulation.
Carter converted an and-one play to kick start the run while Spence made a layup from Brown and hit a three pointer to cut it to eight. Auryonah Nash made it 51-43 with a layup from Brown before a jumper from Megan Fox hit a jumper and Brown made her own layup to get it as close as 52-49.
But the Wildcats ran out of gas and could not get any closer for the rest of the half, as Molloy turned around and went on a 16-3 run of its own in the next five minutes to extend the lead back out to double digits at 68-52.
Spence led the Wildcats for the second game in a row, scoring 20 points on Sunday while adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Brown added 11 points and six assists as the only other Wildcat to reach double figures in points. Plummer led all student-athletes with 13 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Tiaja Harrold added 12 rebounds for the Wildcats off the bench.
The Wildcats shot 28-for-80 from the field for the game, and only 3-for-15 from beyond the three-point arc. Molloy put up 46 three-pointers in the contest, only making eight for a 17.4 percent, and only shot 33 percent from the field by going 30-for-91. The Lions' biggest advantage came at the foul line where they shot 22-for-35 in the game.
Molloy finished with five players with double-digit points, led by Christina Marra with a game high 22 points. Four of the five starters finished in double figures, as did Alex Hampton with 15 off the bench.
Wilmington remains on the road in the early part of the 2012-13 season and will head to Millersville for another non-conference matchup on Saturday, November 17, in part of a men's and women's doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The Wildcats home-opener is on December 4 against Chestnut Hill.