BROOKLYN, NY - The Medgar Evers College women's basketball team hosted Wesley College at the Cougars Cave for a pair of games on Sunday and Monday, December 8-9.

The Cougars fell to the Wolverines by a final score of 58-56 in game one, followed by a 52-34 defeat at the hands of Wesley in game two.

GAME ONE - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8

The black-and-gold jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, before Wesley fought back to make the score 7-4. Samsara Paul tied the game with a three-pointer, and the score by the end of the first 10 minutes was 12-12, showing that these two teams were quite evenly matched.

In the second quarter, Tianna Jones hit four jump shots including a three-pointer, and Cyndi Whyte and Onella Ireland chipped in with buckets of their own, as Medgar took control of the game in a high-scoring quarter. The score at halftime was 34-33 Cougars, with Jones scoring 14 points on 5-7 shooting, and Paul chipping in nine points on 3-3 shooting.

The Cougars' offense slowed down in the third quarter, with the team scoring just 11 points compared to 22 in the second quarter. However, the defense also clamped down, holding Wesley to just eight points. By the fourth quarter, the score was 45-41 Medgar.

In the fourth quarter, the black-and-gold offense fell apart as they did not score a point for the first four and a half minutes of the final frame, falling behind 49-45. A pair of layups on back-to-back possessions from Vanessa Zambrano and Destiny Simmons brought the Cougars within two points. However, the team could not quite close the deficit, but with 17 seconds left, Zambrano hit a layup which made ths core 56-55 Wesley. However, the Wolverines responded with a fastbreak layup, and Medgar could not hit a three-pointer to tie the game in the end.

Jones finished with a team-best 14 points and added four steals and three rebounds, while Paul finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals, and three assists. Whyte contributed her third double-double of the season, posting totals of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

GAME TWO - MONDAY, DECEMBER 9

Simmons swished an early three-pointer to give Medgar a 5-2 lead in the second contest, held the following day on Monday. However, Wesley went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-5 lead, which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest as the Cougar offense struggled to create open shots and hit them.

Despite Medgar shooting 4-31 (12.9%) from the field and 1-14 (7.1%) on three pointers in the first half, the Cougars entered the intermission down just six points, 24-18, thanks to their defense, which forced 20 Wolverine turnovers in the first half.

In the second half, Wesley was able to limit their turnovers, while Medgar was unable to provide a boost for their offense, hitting none of their seven three-point attempts in the half. After Zambrano hit a jumper halfway through the third quarter to pull the Cougars within five, Wesley went on a 10-0 run to make their lead 15, and the Wolverine advantage never dipped below 10 points the rest of the way.

Zambrano and Simmons led Medgar with seven points apiece in game two, with Simmons also contributing six rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Semina Radoncic and Whyte both chipped in six points, with Radoncic adding a team-best seven rebounds and two steals, while Whyte added six rebounds and three steals.

The Cougars next return to action on Sunday, December 29, when they travel to Salem, MA, to take on Salem State University at 5 pm.