Women’s Basketball Knocks Off Plymouth State, 54-50

The women's basketball squad posted a 54-50 victory against Plymouth State in a non-conference contest at the Harborside RAC on Thursday evening.

Johnson & Wales was led by junior Marina Millian (Chester, N.Y.) with 18 points and 13 rebounds while sophomore Jenna Juron (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) added 15 points and four assists for the Wildcats.

Plymouth State junior Kellie Walsh (Londonderry, N.H.) had 16 points and six rebounds in the setback for the Panthers.

JWU jumped out to the 16-0 lead after a jumper by junior Ayla Walter (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) with 14:29 left in the first half.  The Wildcats led by as many as 20 points (25-5) midway through the half.   Plymouth State cut the lead to 12 points when a layup by Walsh made the score 27-15 with 3:11 on the clock.  That would be as close as the Panthers would get as Johnson & Wales took the 33-17 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. 

Plymouth State chipped away at the lead in the early stages of the second half and closed the gap to just 40-29 on a layup with 11:30 remaining in regulation.  The visiting Panthers continued to cut into the advantage and made the score 47-43 on a three-pointer by senior Kristin Crotts (Danville, N.Y.) with just over seven minutes remaining.  A pair of free throws by Walsh with 2:07 left made the score 51-48, but would not be enough as the Wildcats held on for the 54-50 victory.

With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 4-8 for the year while Plymouth State falls to 2-8 on the season.  The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, January 7^th when they host Suffolk in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at 1:00 p.m.