Season-Best in Three-Pointers Not Enough for Wilkes Women's Basketball against Rutgers-Camden
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's basketball team set a new season-high in three-pointers made with 11, four of which came from Stef Kramer (Dushore, PA/Sullivan County) who set a new career-high for points, but it was not enough as the team fell to Rutgers-Camden by a 90-82 final at the Marts Center on Monday evening in non-conference play.
The Colonels fell to 5-9 on the season with the defeat.
Wilkes started the scoring when Ashley Caster (York, PA/Spring Grove) converted the back end of two free throws, followed by a fast-break layup from Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) to give the Colonels an early 3-0 lead.
Rutgers-Camden followed the early buckets with a 9-0 run before Vanessa Whitecavage (Shenandoah, PA/Marian Catholic) was fouled converting a layup in transition, hitting the subsequent free throw to cut the deficit to 9-6.
The Scarlett Raptors finished the quarter on a 15-11 run as the Colonels trailed 19-11 at the end of the first frame.
Caster began the scoring the second quarter when Gab Giordano (Moscow, PA/Holy Cross) found her at the top of the paint for a turn-around jumper to cut the deficit to 24-19. Whitecavage followed with a layup to keep Rutgers-Camden's lead to five points at 26-21.
The Scarlett Raptors started the quarter shooting one-for-five from the field, forcing them to take a full timeout with just over seven minutes remaining until halftime. The break worked as Rutgers-Camden converted a layup on their following possession.
The Scarlett Raptors finished the quarter on a 19-6 run, entering halftime with a 46-29 advantage.
Wilkes began the third quarter on an 8-2 run highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Kelley and a layup from Caster to make the score 48-37.
The Colonels closed the third quarter on a 12-4 run with two three-pointers from Kramer and one from Kristie Najdek (Bethpage, NY/Island Trees) as the fourth quarter began with Wilkes trailing 67-62, outscoring Rutgers-Camden 33-21 in the quarter.
Wilkes continued its onslaught of shots from long-range as it started the final quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 74-71 lead with 5:35 remaining in the game before Rutgers-Camden hit a three-pointer of its own to tie the score before calling a timeout with 4:38 on the clock.
The Scarlett Raptors went on a 10-6 run to take an 84-80 lead with just over one minute remaining, hitting their free throws to stay in front the rest of the way.
Kramer highlighted the scorers for the Colonels, finishing with 12 points on four-of-six shooting from deep, besting her previous career best of six points. Kelley (12 points), Gianna Roberts (Nanticoke, PA/Nanticoke) (12 points, five rebounds), Caster (10 points), and Whitecavage (10 points) all finished in double-figures for Wilkes.
Gabby Greene led the way for Rutgers-Camden, finishing with a game-high 22 points to go with four rebounds. Shane Holmes added 20 points and five assists while Fatimah Williams also contributed 20 points.
Wilkes shot a blistering 63 percent (10-16) from beyond the arc to key its second-half comeback attempt.
The Colonels return to action on Wednesday when they travel to King's College for an 8:00 p.m. Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) contest.
