BALTIMORE, MD – The Wilkes women's basketball team's valiant fourth quarter comeback fell just short Wednesday afternoon, falling to Goucher College in their first game of the new year 63-55.

Wilkes falls to 6-6 with the loss and now hold a 1-4 record in Landmark Conference play, while Goucher improves to 1-11 and 1-4 in conference play.

The Colonels took a 5-0 lead early in the contest thanks to points from Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) and Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township), before the Gophers reigned them in with a four-point run to make it a 5-4 contest. Goucher took the lead with 4:40 left to play in the quarter as a part of an 8-2 run to take a 12-7 lead. A layup and a triple from Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) evened things up for the Colonels with two minutes to play in the quarter and an Emma Stout (Bangor, PA/Bangor) jumper gave Wilkes a 14-12 advantage at the end of the first frame.

A 6-0 run to start the second quarter gave Goucher the lead back 18-14, before Matos snatched it back with another five-point run to put the Colonels ahead 19-18. Determined to maintain control of the lead, the Gopher offense outscored the Colonels 16-7 and led at the half 34-26.

Marino started the half with the first points for the Colonels, but Goucher's momentum carried through the break as they put up seven points of their own to extend their lead 41-28. Matos sunk two jumpers to bring the Colonel deficit back to single digits down 41-32, but a 9-3 Gopher run saw the third quarter end with Wilkes down 50-35.  

The Colonels opened the final frame hot, scoring the first five points to cut the deficit to 10 points with 8:10 left to play. Despite a Goucher three, Wilkes continued to cut away at the gap with a 10-0 run to make it a one possession game. Taylor Simpson (Dunmore, PA/Lawrenceville School) punctuated the run with a triple of her own, the Colonels now only down 53-50 with 3:28 left to play. Goucher was able to stop the bleeding with a made layup and free throw to make it a 56-50 game with 2:28 left to play, but Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) gave the Colonels life once more with a layup to put them back within two possessions 56-52 with 1:26 remaining.

Unfortunately for Wilkes it wasn't meant to be, as Goucher went 7-8 from the free throw line for the rest of the game to seal the 63-55 victory.

Matos matched her career-best with 21 points, her fourth game of the season scoring 20+ points. The sophomore also led the team in assists with four and tied Shober for the team lead in rebounds with nine.

Guards Merci Turner and Brianna Johnson led Goucher with 14 points each. Briyah Haggins was one point shy of a double-double, leading the team in rebounds with 11 and assists with five adding nine points as well.

The Colonels return to action on Saturday, January 6 as they host Elizabethtown at 4:00 p.m.