Three-Point Shooting Not Enough as Wilkes Women's Basketball Falls to DeSales
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University women's basketball team shot a season-high 47 percent (8-17) from three-point range, but ended its two-game home stand with a 70-55 loss to DeSales University in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play on Wednesday evening at the Marts Center.
With the loss the Colonels dropped to 6-8 overall and 0-3 in league play, while DeSales, receiving votes in the national polls, moved to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
Wilkes gained an early 8-2 lead in the first quarter thanks to three-pointers from Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) and Gianna Roberts (Nanticoke, PA/Nanticoke). The Bulldogs managed to stay close for the remainder of the first quarter with the Colonels holding a 17-12 lead going into the second quarter.
DeSales went on a 8-0 scoring run to start the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead. A layup from Gabby Smicherko (Edwardsville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) brought Wilkes to within one point of the Bulldogs at 22-21 with 5:48 left until halftime. DeSales finished the quarter on an 11-0 run to end the half with a 33-21 lead.
Kelley opened the third quarter with a layup to bring Wilkes within 10 points. The Bulldogs would continue to hold a double-digit lead through most of the quarter, until the 2:03 mark when a Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) three-pointer brought the Colonels within eight points of DeSales, forcing the Bulldogs to burn a timeout. DeSales answered with a three-pointer of its own after the timeout to regain a double-digit advantage heading into the final quarter with the score 52-41.
Wilkes pulled within six points midway through the fourth quarter after a layup from Kelley brought the score to 57-51 but the Bulldogs then used a 6-0 scoring run to regain their double-digit lead once again as the Colonels were unable to close the gap.
Kelley finished with a double-double for the Colonels on 15 points and 11 rebounds. Roberts added 14 points to go along with six boards while Smicherko added nine points and four rebounds for Wilkes. Roberts finished the contest shooting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Samantha Shinkus scored a game-high 17 points for the Bulldogs to go with six rebounds. Averi Jordan posted a double-double for DeSales as she added 15 points and 11 boards.
The Colonels return to the court on Friday when they travel to Eastern University for a MAC Freedom game with tip scheduled for 5:00 p.m. The game was rescheduled from its original date of Saturday at 1:00 p.m. due to an inclement weather forecast for this weekend.
