CALDWELL, N.J. – The Concordia Clippers women's basketball team played in their final regular season game on Tuesday evening before making their first-ever Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship Tournament appearance this weekend. Concordia would fall to Caldwell University on the road, 83-68, in the CACC North Division showdown at the Newman Center.
Concordia began the first quarter with a 9-5 lead as the Clippers made their first four field goal attempts. Concordia maintained their sizable advantage throughout the first period and held a lead as large as eight points as the Clippers would lead 20-14 after 10 minutes of action.
In the second quarter the Cougars would begin their comeback, scoring five straight points to begin the period. By the 7:22 mark Caldwell would take their first lead of the game as a 14-0 run gave the home team the 33-23 advantage. Concordia was held to only six points in the quarter as the Clippers went into the locker room trailing 33-26.
The Clippers would cut their deficit to 35-30 early in the third quarter as the Cougars would regain their double digit lead, 43-33, with 4:33 remaining in the period. Concordia was out-scored 10-2 in the closing minutes of the quarter as Caldwell held a 55-37 advantage after three periods.
In the fourth quarter the Clippers would begin with a 13-10 run to trail the Cougars with just under seven minutes to go, 65-50. Caldwell would increase their lead to 19 points, but Concordia would chip away at the deficit in the closing minutes. The Clippers got to within 13 points, but couldn't get any closer as the Cougars took the 83-68 victory to sweep the season series between the two teams.
Junior Julianne Wilkinson (Red Hook, N.Y.) led Concordia with 24 points as she also added three assists while senior Jessica Rosalbo (Staten Island, N.Y.) added 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Freshman Nicole Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) recorded a career-high 10 points off the bench as junior Hadiyah Black (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with seven points, three assists, and two blocks.
The Clippers (8-19, 8-11 CACC) will now prepare to visit the University of the Sciences on Saturday afternoon for their CACC Championship Tournament Quarterfinals game in Philadelphia, Pa. Tip-off is set for 2 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.