Box Score
The Kentucky Wesleyan women's basketball team recorded its biggest win of the 2015-2016 season on Thursday evening, as the Panthers defeated G-MAC leader Cedarville 58-45 at the Sportscenter in a low-scoring physical game. Kentucky Wesleyan improves to (12-6, 6-2 G-MAC) on the season. The Panthers also improve to 8-1 in home games this season, and have now won three straight games, all by double digits.
In the first half, both teams were having trouble knocking down shots. Kentucky Wesleyan was limited to only five points in the first quarter, and had just 17 points at halftime. KWC as a team shot 5-18 from the field in the half. Cedarville lead by four, with a 21-17 advantage at the break.
Cedarville opened up an early 29-21 lead on the Panthers early in the third quarter, but went scoreless for the next five minutes of play. Kentucky Wesleyan was able to close the gap to 29-27, and then Katie Miller knocked down a long range three to give the Panthers their first lead of the contest at 30-29. The score would remain the same heading into the fourth.
After a quick basket from the Yellow Jackets, Kentucky Wesleyan would go on a 15-9 run to lead the Yellow Jackets 45-39. Jennifer Walker-Crawford and Jade Mills-Harris hit back-to-back three's later in the quarter to keep the Panthers ahead. Kentucky Wesleyan slowly began to pull away as the quarter continued. The Panthers hit their foul shots in the final minutes to put the Yellow Jackets away for good. KWC's offense caught fire in the fourth quarter with 28 points in total. Their defense held Cedarville to just 27% shooting from the field.
The Panthers finished the contest shooting 39% from the floor, after just shooting 27% in the first half. KWC also shot 50% from three point range, as they connected on eight three point field goals throughout the contest. Kentucky Wesleyan scored 18 points on free throws alone in the game. The Panthers also forced Cedarville into committing 20 turnovers, and scored 22 points off of them. Kentucky Wesleyan's bench also produced 21 points.
Brittany Wells led Kentucky Wesleyan in scoring for the ninth time this year with 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor. Eight other Panther players also reached the scoring column. Jade Mills-Harris scored eight, Katie Miller recorded seven points, and Jennifer Walker-Crawford, Jill Jones, and Asia Coates each added six points apiece. Bria Wright collected a team-high nine rebounds in the contest as well.
Kentucky Wesleyan will be back in action at the Sportscenter on Saturday afternoon, as they play host to G-MAC foe Ursuline. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
