Charlotte, NC - The Johnson & Wales women's basketball team took on Clinton College in the EMAC home opener for the Wildcats. JWU rallied for an 81-78 win.

How It Happened:

• Clinton made five three pointers in the first quarter in building a 28-22 lead.
• The Golden Bears extended their advantage to 17 at halftime, largely on the back of going 14-17 from the free throw line in the second quarter. Clinton's 53 first half points were the most by a JWU opponent this season.
• JWU scored the first ten points of the third quarter, led by 6 points from Jordan McDuffie, trimming the Clinton lead to 7. JWU was able to maintain contact throughout the rest of the period and went to the 4th quarter trailing 65-56.
• The Wildcats again started the quarter strong, going on a 14-4 run to take a one point lead with 4:45 to play.
• Following a Clinton basket, Mariana Ballard made three pointers on consecutive possessions to put JWU up 5, 76-71.
• Jayla Lovett's layup with a minute to play extended the Wildcat advantage to 9, 80-71.
• Clinton rallied with 7 points 48 seconds to draw within two points with twelve seconds left, but JWU held on from there.

Key Stats:

• After scoring 53 points in the first half, Clinton was held to only 25 second half points as they shot 9-38 from the field and 1-12 from three point range in the half.
• Conversely, JWU shot 19-34 (56%) from the field in the second half.
• The Wildcats outrebounded the Golden Bears 47-31.
• Jordan McDuffie set a new school record for points in a game with 38. She went 17-22 from the field and 4-7 from the free throw line. Additionally, she grabbed 18 rebounds, and handed out 7 assists.
• Jordan Durant scored 15 points on 7-11 shooting. She also pulled down 7 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists.
• Clinton entered the game ranked #5 in USCAA Division I Women's Basketball, while the Wildcats are ranked #1 in USCAA Division II Women's Basketball.
• JWU improves to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in EMAC play while Clinton drops to 7-2 overall and 0-1 in EMAC play.

Up Next:

The Wildcats travel to Apprentice School for a 2:00pm game on Saturday, January 22nd.