Tough Defense Helps Wilkes Women's Basketball to Home Victory
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's basketball team held Centenary University to just 35 points through three quarters on their way to a 63-51 win on Thursday night at the Marts Center. The Colonels defense recorded seven steals while stifling a Cyclone offense that committed 24 turnovers on the night.
The win improves Wilkes to 4-7 on the season while dropping Centenary (N.J.) to 1-8.
Wilkes found themselves behind early in this one as Centenary hit three early three-pointers to take a 9-4 lead two minutes into the game. The Colonels would dig in on the defensive end and end the quarter on a 22-5 run thanks in part to 11 points from Gab Giordano (Moscow, PA/Holy Cross).
Wilkes would keep up the pressure on the defensive end in the second quarter as they allowed only nine Centenary points to head into halftime with a 39-23 advantage.
Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) scored the Colonels first four points of the third quarter to push the Wilkes lead to 20 points at 43-23 just three minutes into the second half.
A triple from Sierra Smith (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) stretched the margin to 23 points at 50-27 with 3:46 remaining in the quarter, propelling Wilkes to a 57-35 lead heading into the fourth.
The Cyclones would battle back in the final 10 minutes to cut the deficit to 14 at the halfway mark of the quarter. Centenary would get as close as 11 at 61-50 with just over a minute to go but the Wilkes lead was too much to overcome as the Colonels captured a 63-51 win.
Wilkes took advantage of their free-throws as they shot 69.6% (16-23) from the line while their bench outscored Centenary's 31-5.
Giordano led the Colonels with 16 points and nine rebounds. Alyssa Alfano (Dunmore, PA/Holy Cross) and Vanessa Whitecavage (Shenandoah, PA/Marian Catholic) also finished in double-digits for the navy and gold with 12 and 11 points respectively.
Wilkes returns to action when it heads to DeSales on Wednesday, January 9th for an 8:00 p.m. tip.
