OWENSBORO, Ky. – In a hard fought battle, the Kentucky Wesleyan College women's basketball team dropped a 63-51 decision against Great Midwest Athletic Conference opponent Cedarville on Thursday night at the Owensboro Sportscenter.  The Panthers pulled within one with just over six minutes remaining but were unable to complete the comeback.  Kentucky Wesleyan falls to 16-7 overall and 6-6 in conference play while the Yellow Jackets move to 15-10 and 7-5 in the G-MAC.

Kentucky Wesleyan controlled the first quarter, never surrendering a lead or letting the game be tied.  A balanced attacked gave the Panthers a 15-10 lead with all five starters scoring at least two points.  A pair of lay ups from Jennifer Walker-Crawford in the opening minutes of the second frame put the Panthers ahead by seven points, their largest lead of the game.

The Yellow Jackets chipped away at their deficit and took their first lead of the game with a pair of free throws with 2:32 remaining until the break.  Another pair of free throws in the closing seconds gave Cedarville a 28-24 advantage at halftime.

To open the fourth quarter, Walker-Crawford scored six unanswered points in just over 90 seconds to put the Panthers behind by two.  That would be the closest the Panthers would get as Cedarville pulled away for the 12-point win.

Walker-Crawford led all scorers with a season-high 25 points while grabbing five rebounds.  Shayla Wright tabbed seven points with one assist and rebound each.  Sydney Morabito, Bria Wright and Brittany Wells each recorded four points with Bria Wright leading the way with five steals.  Wells led the team with seven boards.

Kentucky Wesleyan scored 12 points off of 22 turnovers and was narrowly outscored in the paint, 28 to 26.  The Panthers drained 12 free throws for a shooting percentage of 70.6 behind the line.

The Panthers will remain home this weekend as they host Ohio Valley in their final home G-MAC game of the season.  Saturday will mark senior day for the current senior as well as alumni day.  The women's game will start at 1 pm, with a senior day ceremony to follow.  The men's game will tip off at approximately 3:15 pm with a special alumni recognition ceremony during halftime as Kentucky Wesleyan welcomes back over 150 members of the men's and women's basketball programs.

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