MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Leading by as many as 16 points midway through the second half, the Wesleyan women's basketball team got a pair of clutch baskets from a pair of underclassman to hold off Hunter late in a 65-57 season-opening win on Saturday night in Silloway Gymnasium. The Cardinals (1-0) advance to face Emerson in the Courtyard by Marriott Classic title game on Sunday at 3 PM.
 
After seeing their 16-point lead whittled down to a 56-54 advantage with 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals got a much-needed jumper from Samaya Lovett '29 in her first career game to make it a four-point game. Then on the next possession, leading by three, the ball swung to Madie Dayton '28 on the left arc and she hoisted a three-pointer that hit nothing but net to make it 61-55 Cardinals with 1:45 left.
 
The Cardinal defense finished the game from there, forcing Hunter into three straight empty possessions following the Dayton triple, before closing out a 65-57 win in the 2025-26 season opener.
 
An entertaining opening quarter saw the lead change hands four times before Wesleyan went on a 11-0 run to close out the frame with a 19-12 lead. Meghan Kirck '28 hit a pair of three-pointers in the stanza while Ali Murphy '27 finished off a pass from Aviva Schnitzer '28 to close out the quarter with the seven-point advantage.
 
The second quarter saw the Hawks tie the score at 23-23 with 3:31 left before halftime, only to watch Kirck hit another three that kickstarted a 7-0 run to close out the half for the Cardinals who led 30-23 at the break.
 
That momentum carried over into the second half where Wesleyan scored the opening nine points, making it 16 unanswered points from the 3:31 mark of the second quarter up into the third quarter where it was 39-23 Wesleyan with 6:53 left in the frame.
 
Hunter closed the gap to seven points before the end of the third quarter and then saw the Cardinals lead by just two points with 7:43 remaining. A pair of Alli Jones '27 makes stymied the visitors' run and Lovett cleaned up her own miss to keep Hunter at-bay, setting up the final few minutes where the Cardinals won it late.
 
Kirck and Olivia Quinn '26 tied for the team-lead with 15 points apiece. Kirck shot 5-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range while Quinn added nine rebounds and three assists to her totals. Jones finished with a double-double on 13 points (5-8 FG) and 14 rebounds while Schnitzer had seven points and seven rebounds and Murphy had six points and eight rebounds off the bench.
 
The Cardinals close out the Courtyard by Marriott Classic with a showdown against Emerson at 3 PM who defeated Albertus Magnus 60-51 on Saturday.