ASTON, Pa. – An 18-point outburst in the first quarter nearly matched the scoring total for the remainder of the game as the Wilkes University women's basketball team fell at Neumann University 51-40 in non-conference action on Tuesday evening.
 
The Colonels fell to 1-2 with the setback.
 
Wilkes jumped out to an 8-2 lead to start the game after a Katelyn Kinczel (Highland Heights, OH/Mayfield) layup, Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) three-pointer, and Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) layup through the first two-plus minutes. Neumann cut the lead to two at 8-6 with 6:16 on the clock but the Colonels went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes pushing the lead to 16-6 on two buckets from Shober, a Horton layup, and a Kendra Smith (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville) layup. The Knights finished the quarter on a 7-2 run to cut Wilkes' advantage to 18-13.
 
Emily Hocker (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) hit a jumper to start the second quarter followed by a Kinczel three-pointer, pushing the Colonels lead back to 10 at 23-12 with just over six minutes left until halftime. Wilkes maintained the advantage, heading into the break with a 25-20 lead.
 
The Colonels battled to maintain their lead in the third quarter but Neumann was able to take the lead outscoring Wilkes 18-7 through the quarter. Wilkes cut the deficit to four following a three-pointer from Horton with 5:33 left in the game to make the count 43-39, but it was unable to get any closer as the Knights concluded the contest on an 8-1 run.
 
Horton led the Colonels with 11 points to go with two rebounds. Shober finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
 
Terea Hunt led Neumann with a game-high 15 points to go with 10 rebounds and three assists. Lauren Klieber rounded out the double-digit scorers with ten points off the bench.
 
Wilkes returns to the court on Saturday when it will head to the 2021 Cross County Challenge, where the Colonels will face Marywood University on Saturday at the University of Scranton starting at 1:00 p.m.