NEW LONDON, Conn. – A suffocating defensive effort turned in by the Wesleyan women's basketball team proved enough in a 56-43 victory over Conn. College on Sunday afternoon. The win breaks a three-game losing streak as the Cardinals (6-9, 1-2 NESCAC) pick up their first league win of the season while the Camels (4-11, 0-4) have lost four straight.
 
Wesleyan held Conn. College at-bay for the entire game, limiting the Camels to just 16-for-71 shooting (22.5 percent) including a 6-for-35 (17.1 percent) showing in the first half alone. Even though Conn. College outscored the Cardinals 28-23 in the second half, Wesleyan's 33-15 halftime lead proved more than enough in the end for a comfortable double-digit victory.
 
 A slow start saw just one made field goal for each team through the first five-plus minutes before Madi Gomez '24 hit her first of two makes from three-point range in the quarter to make it 7-3 Cardinals. Gomez hit again from deep just under a minute later to give Wesleyan eight unanswered points and her third triple came early in the second.
 
The game-defining run came towards the latter half of the second quarter as Olivia Quinn '26 converted in the paint off a feed from Alana Jones '24 that started an 11-0 run that gave the Cardinals a commanding lead at the half. Brooke Guiffre '23 finished off a three-point play following Quinn's layup while Maggie Smith '25 scored four points in two possessions.
 
The Camels found some offense with 14 points in the third quarter but the Cardinals managed 15 points to maintain a sizeable advantage. After Hallie O'Toole 'hit from three for the Camels with 4:15 left in the frame, the Cardinals held Conn. College scoreless for the remainder of the quarter while Lena Benway '25 hit a last second three to make it 48-29 heading into the fourth.
 
With the game in-hand, the Cardinal defense continued to hold strong as the Camels' first basket of the quarter came nearly three minutes in that ended a scoreless drought that lasted more than seven minutes.
 
Gomez finished with nine points to tie for the team-lead with Tori DaCosta '25 who totaled nine points and 11 rebounds. Abby Gray '24 added seven points and 11 rebounds while Jones went for six points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
 
Abby Ilusorio led the Camels with a game-high 11 points while Jaycie Rojik tallied nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Wesleyan heads back home for a five-game home stand starting on Wednesday with a 5:30 PM tip against Eastern Nazarene.=