Petersburg, VA - The Johnson & Wales Charlotte women's basketball team's fell to Cincinnati-Clermont in 2023 USCAA Division II Women's Basketball national championship game on Thursday evening.

How It Happened:

• The Wildcats jumped out to a 13-7 lead over the game's first seven minutes as five different Wildcats scored.
• Cincinnati-Clermont answered with an 13-0 run of their own to close the quarter, taking a 20-13 lead after 10 minutes.
• The Cougars' Ashley Moore scored 6 straight points to open the second stanza, pushing the UCC lead to 13.
• JWU struggled from the field in the period, making just 2 of 17 field goal attempts, and fell behind 35-20 at the half.
• UCC again opened the third period by scoring 4 straight points, giving themselves their largest lead of the game 39-20.
• The Wildcats started to find their shooting stroke, hitting 8 of their 17 shots in the stanza, but could not cut into the Cougar lead, as they too connected on 8 field goals in the quarter.
• Trailing by 17 to start the fourth, JWU reeled off 5 consecutive points to cut their deficit to 12 with 5:32 to play.
• The Wildcats could get no closer however, as UCC outscored the Wildcats by three the rest of the way to claim the 69-54 win.

Key Stats:

• The 21 wins this season is the second most in school history.
• UCC outrebounded JWU 56-40.
• The Wildcats shot just 2 of 17 from the three point stripe.
• Tanaeschia Dorsey closed her Wildcat career scoring 25 points and pulling down 6 rebounds.
• Jayla Lovett had 11 points and 3 steals.
• Aimee Evans and Makiya McDaniel combined for 16 rebounds.
• Dorsey and Lovett were each selected to the All-Tournament Team.

From The Coach:

Coach Jill Dunn reflected on the game and the season as a whole: "Definitely not our night, but the girls came a long way this season! Proud of them and what they did accomplish!"