ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Wilkes University women's basketball team took on Elizabethtown Saturday afternoon at the Thompson Gymnasium, falling to the Blue Jays by a score of 73-39.

The loss dropped the Colonels to 5-18 (2-14 Landmark), while the Blue Jays improved to 16-7 (12-4 Landmark).

Sturdy defense midway through the first quarter helped Wilkes keep pace with the Blue Jays early. Elizabethtown led 8-6 with 5:37 left, but the home team went on an 11-2 run powered by Makenna Mummert to push the lead to 19-8 heading into the second.

An equally strong start to the second by the Blue Jays increased their lead to 15 points (23-8) early, but the Colonels kept it from getting out of hand for a while. A Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) layup with 1:52 remaining in the half made it 26-16, but Elizabethtown scored the final six points of the half to lead 34-16 going into the locker room.

In the third quarter, the Blue Jays dominated by outscoring the Colonels 21-11 to take a 28-point lead going into the final stanza, and then they won the fourth quarter as well to reach the final score of 73-39.

Matos was Wilkes' leading scorer with 14 points on 6-13 shooting, and Maliyah Warren (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) was right behind her with 12 points on 5-14 shooting. For Elizabethtown, Mummert led the way with 26 points, three rebounds, and four assists, and the team also got a strong outing from Allyia Kennedy. 

Kennedy scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds on 5-7 from the field and 4-6 from the free throw line. 

The Blue Jays also dominated the rebound battle 57-23 and shot 44.4% as a team, compared to just 28.1% for the Colonels.

Wilkes finishes their five-game road trip on Wednesday, Feb. 18 with a matchup against Scranton. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.