LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Wesleyan women's basketball team closed out their trip to Las Vegas with a 71-46 defeat to Whittier on Tuesday afternoon in the D3hoops.com Classic. Wesleyan falls to 5-7 on the season while the Poets improve to 5-4, finishing the D3hoops.com Classic with an unblemished 2-0 record.
 
Defense kept the Cardinals in the game in the first quarter, as the Cardinals held the Poets to 14 points in the opening frame. Wesleyan struggled to get anything going offensively, making two field goals in the stanza, but the deficit was just 14-9 heading into the second quarter.
 
Before the second quarter started, a Whittier technical foul sent Olivia Quinn '26 to the line for two free throws and the senior forward followed with a three-point play to make it 14-14 just 11 seconds into the period. That early momentum, however, didn't carry over as the quarter played out, with Whitter going on a 19-2 run over the final 7+ minutes of the frame.
 
Leading by 18 at the halftime break, Whitter scored eight unanswered points to open the second half and would lead by as many as 30 points as the second half played out. The Cardinals shot much better in the second half, going 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) from the floor for 28 points.
 
Quinn led the Cardinals with 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting with six rebounds. Alli Jones '27 reached double figures with 11 points (5-11 FG) to go along with six rebounds. Ali Murphy '27 had a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks off the bench. Delaney Beighley '29 scored her first career points with a field goal late in the fourth quarter.
 
The Cardinals are off until Friday, January 9 when they play host to Williams in the first NESCAC league game of the season.