Press Release written by Nathan Foltz

NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University women's basketball team fell to the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex in the WilmU Tip-Off Tournament by a final score of 74-36.

The East Coast Conference members were coming off a scrappy win over Wilmington rival Goldey-Beacom on Friday at the Complex, which ended in a final score of 43-37. Wilmington's second loss in two days puts them at 0-2 coming out of opening weekend.

The Wildcats kept things close through the early minutes of the game, entering the second quarter with a 17-14 lead over the Firebirds. A 19-8 second quarter that favored UDC put Wilmington into a difficult spot coming out of the break, though, and after starting the second half down 33-25, the Wildcats yielded 12 straight points to UDC that ultimately sealed their fate.

Wilmington had a good run over about two and a half minutes in that third quarter, where they scored nine to UDC's four to make it a 13-point ballgame at 49-36, but those were the last points they would score in the contest, as they would go on to score zero in the fourth.

Reynah Rattliff had another good performance in her second collegiate game, scoring a team-high nine points while adding three rebounds and the team's only three assists. TyKeisha Hill led the team with 13 rebounds and added seven points, matching her scoring total to that of Sparkle Leigh's. Emma Brown pulled down 11 rebounds, and Armani Bell-Jackson and Bene Butler scored four and five points, respectively, off the bench.

The Wildcats will play the next game of their season-opening homestand on Wednesday when they take on Lincoln (Pa.). Opening tip is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.