MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (January 2, 2019) - The FDU-Florham women's basketball team fell against Wesleyan (Conn.) 66-59 Wednesday evening.
The Devils drop to 4-8, while Wesleyan improves to 6-3.
The hosts opened the game with 10 of the first 15 points, before junior
Cayla Staggers dropped in a layup with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Senior
Raven Dowling tallied four straight points, and junior
Imani Collins took a feed from
Kayla Croswell down low to trim the deficit to one with just under one minute left in the quarter.
Wesleyan bridged the opening two quarters with a 9-1 run before Dowling halted the rally with a jumper from Croswell. The Devils whittled lead down to one possession with 3:02 left in the stanza as Dowling and Croswell both converted two free throw line. After trading points, the Cardinals ended the half with seven consecutive markers, opening up a 10 point lead heading into halftime.
Dowling led the Devils with 12 points in the opening half, while Staggers chipped in seven.
The Cardinals pushed the lead to 14 before Staggers knocked down two straight layups, the second coming off an offensive rebound. Wesleyan picked up their largest lead of the evening at 17 points, but FDU responded well. The Devils closed out the third frame with nine straight points over the final 2:51, forcing the Cardinals to go 0-for-6 from the field.
The momentum continued, as freshman
Arian Coleman trimmed the gap down to just five with 8:28 remaining. The Cardinals took a full timeout after Staggers hit a fastbreak basket 1:12 later, as gap shrunk to three. That would be as close as the Devils would get however, with the Cardinals tallying 13 of the final 22 points of the night.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Staggers registered a career-high 21 points while also pulling down three rebounds.
- Dowling was one point off her previous career-best, notching 17 points to go along with eight rebounds.
- The Devils held a 36-30 edge in points in the paint.
- FDU tied a season-low with just 12 turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Devils close out non-conference play on Monday, traveling to take on the University of Valley Forge at 7 p.m.