WILKES-BARRE – Junior Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) scored 16 straight points during one stretch of the second half to lead the Wilkes University women's basketball team to a 54-40 victory over visiting Neumann University Thursday night at the Marts Center. Kelley came off the bench to finish with a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the year.

With the non-conference victory Wilkes heads into the holiday break with a 6-4 overall record. Neumann dropped to 4-7 with the loss.

A highly defensive and cold shooting first half for both teams saw Wilkes shoot 22.2 percent and Neumann shoot 11.4 percent from the floor. The Colonels led 13-4 following the first quarter as Vanessa Whitecavage (Shenandoah, PA/Marian Catholic) started the scoring for Wilkes with a three-pointer and later would score on a fast break layup following a steal to lead Wilkes with five first quarter points. Neumann would close the deficit to just four points at halftime by winning the second quarter 7-2 as the Wilkes lead stood at 15-11 after 20 minutes of play.

The scoring began to quicken in the third quarter as the Knights scored to make it 15-13 just 17 seconds into the frame. The Colonels answered with a layup by Gabby Smicherko (Edwardsville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) followed by a layup by Alyssa Alfano (Dunmore, PA/Holy Cross) off an assist from Whitecavage. Whitecavage then assisted on a three-pointer by Alfano as the lead stretched to 22-13 with 8:09 left in the third. Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) then drilled a three on a third consecutive basket assisted by Whitecavage with Wilkes leading 25-15 with 6:46 left.

Kelley started her scoring run with a layup assisted by Smicherko at the 3:43 mark of the third to give Wilkes a 32-21 lead. In a span of 9:23 of game clock Kelley proceeded to score 16 consecutive points culminated at the 4:20 mark of the fourth quarter by two free throws and Wilkes leading 46-37. During the stretch Kelley went 5-for-7 from the floor including a three-pointer and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

From there the Colonels went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe including four from Alfano and another two from Kelley and a layup by Kelley to stretch its lead to a game-high 14 at the end.

Whitecavage reached double figures with 12 points and also had a season-high four assists. Horton was strong on the glass grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds (13 in the first half) and also adding a career-high of five assists in the game. Alfano finished with a season-high nine points and Smicherko contributed a career-high three blocks.

The Colonels held a 49-31 rebounding advantage and a 22-14 edge in points in the paint. The Wilkes defense held Neumann to 23.3 percent shooting on the night and no double-digit scorers. The offense heated up in the second half (61.1%) to finish at 37.8 percent shooting on the night and were 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the free-throw line over the final 20 minutes which helped them overcome 22 turnovers.

Wilkes returns to the court to close out a five-game home stand when it hosts Stockton University at the Marts Center on Saturday, January 4 at 3:00 p.m.