ORANGEBURG, N.Y. – The Concordia Clippers women's basketball team played in their first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) game of the season on Wednesday evening at Dominican College (N.Y.). Concordia was unable to capture a win at the Hennessy Center as the Chargers took a 74-69 victory.
In the first quarter both teams came out neck-and-neck on the scoreboard with neither side able to take a sizable advantage. The Clippers would open up a four-point lead at 10-6 but Dominican used a 9-0 run to hold a 15-10 advantage with 3:48 to go in the period. Concordia tied the score at 18-18 at the 1:16 mark but the Chargers ended the quarter with four unanswered points to hold the 22-18 lead.
The Clippers began the second quarter with four straight points to knot the score at 22-22 as Dominican would work to hold a four-point advantage at the 6:55 mark, 28-24. From here, Concordia would use a 14-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 38-30 with just over four minutes to play in the half. The Chargers managed to only cut the deficit in half to end the period as the Clippers went into the locker room with a 44-40 lead.
Concordia came out in the third quarter with the period's opening basket but Dominican would close the gap and tie the score at 55-55 at the 1:46 mark after a 6-0 run. The two teams would remain tied after three quarters, 57-57, as it would come down to the last 10 minutes to decide a winner.
The Chargers came out scoring seven unanswered points to begin the fourth as it was not until the 7:39 mark that the Clippers scored their first points of the period. Back-to-back buckets for Dominican would give the home team a 68-60 advantage with 6:22 to go as Concordia would get within five points at 70-65 with two minutes remaining in regulation. The Clippers would get within three on two occasions but could not complete the comeback as the Chargers held on for the 74-69 win.
Junior Jessica Rosalbo (Staten Island, N.Y.) led Concordia with 17 points as sophomore Julianne Wilkinson (Red Hook, N.Y.) added 16 points which included four three-point baskets. Sophomore Hadiyah Black (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would chip in with 12 points as freshman Anna Thompson (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) scored a career-high 11 points and sophomore Brianna Hendrick (Valley Stream, N.Y.) finished with a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Clippers (0-2, 0-1 CACC) will next host the University of Puerto Rico at Bayamon on Friday evening in the Meyer Athletic Center for their home opener. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. as fans unable to attend can follow the action by clicking on the live stats and video links under the women's basketball schedule page on ConcordiaClippers.com.