SAINT MARY'S CITY, Md. – The Wesleyan women's basketball team opened the 2024-25 season in Maryland with a non-conference, neutral site contest against No. 16 nationally ranked Catholic on Friday night. Despite an impressive debut performance from first-year Meghan Kirck '28, Wesleyan was defeated by the Catholic Cardinals by a score of 75-59 in the Jamie L. Roberts Memorial Tournament hosted by St. Mary's College of Maryland.
 
Trailing by single digits at the half, the game was decided in the third quarter where Catholic outscored Wesleyan 25-9 to take what was an eight-point lead at the start of the second half and turn it into a 60-36 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Catholic shot 61.1 percent as a team in the third quarter and held Wesleyan to a 2-for-12 showing (16.7 percent) from the floor in the frame.
 
Facing an aggressive pressing defense from the opening tip, Wesleyan did well to hang in the game early against a Catholic side that had already played their first game heading into tonight. Despite shooting just 2-for-11 in the first quarter, Wesleyan went to the free throw line 10 times in the first, hitting eight, to trail 18-12 after one.
 
Wesleyan got to within one point of the lead on three separate occasions in the second quarter, using a 6-0 spurt to make it 20-18 Catholic with 5:48 left before halftime. From there, Kirck drained her first of four three-pointers before Madie Dayton '28 hit from deep to lower the gap to one point. Catholic, however, hit back with six unanswered points to restore an eight-point lead at the half.
 
The Catholic lead remained at eight points in the early stages of the third quarter, but an extended dry spell saw Wesleyan go 8:59 straight minutes without a field goal and Catholic jumped at the chance with a 16-1 run to open a 23-point lead. Catholic's lead grew to as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter before Kirck hit three's on three straight trips down the floor as her personal 9-0 run made it 64-45 Catholic with 8:03 left but the damage was done and Wesleyan ultimately fell 75-59.
 
Kirck was outstanding in her collegiate debut, hitting 4-of-8 from deep to finish with 14 points and three assists with just one turnover in 22 minutes. Olivia Quinn '26 put in a team-high 17 points (7-7 FT) and didn't commit a turnover. Alli Jones '27 recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes.
 
As a team, Wesleyan struggled with turnovers, committing 23 to finish -11 in turnover margin for the game. Catholic took advantage with 29 points off turnovers while they also dominated points in the paint (28-4).
 
Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday at 3 PM with a game against the host St. Mary's College who lost to RIT 61-54 on Friday.