NEW CASTLE, Del. - Caldwell College sophomore forward Mackenzie Lynch (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season, but the Cougars fell short in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game at Wilmington College, 80-73 Saturday afternoon at the Pratt Center. With the loss, Caldwell drops to 8-9 overall and 6-6 in the CACC, while the Wildcats surpassed the Cougars into sixth place in the conference with a 6-5 record, 9-7 overall.

Caldwell held an early 8-2 lead before Wilmington reeled off a 20-3 run to take a 22-11 advantage with 8:16 left in the first half. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 in the first period before the Cougars answered with a 13-3 spurt, capped by a three from junior guard Khaliqa Davis (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech), that cut the lead down to 34-28 with 1:42 left. An Amelia Simmons jumper 43 seconds before halftime put Wilmington up 39-30, but junior guard Phylicia Holmes (Roselle, NJ/Roselle) beat the buzzer with a lay-up that made the score 39-32 at the break.

After the Wildcats opened the second half with a three-pointer by Sherrelle Holmes, a basket by junior guard Dana Leary (Bridgewater, NJ/Immaculata) and a conventional three-point play by Lynch made it 42-47 Wilmington at the 17-minute mark. A key 6-0 run pushed the lead to 56-43 with 11:45 remaining, and the Wildcats still maintained a 13-point advantage with 2:48 on the clock. But Caldwell made things interesting with a 13-3 run, including six points from Lynch, that had the Cougars within 74-71 with a minute to go. After Sherrelle Holmes made a pair of free throws, Phylicia Holmes scored to make it 76-73 with 24 seconds left. But Sherrelle Holmes wrapped up the win with four more successful trips to the line, giving Wilmington a season sweep of Caldwell.

Lynch was 5-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe to pace the Cougars. Phylicia Holmes scored a season-best 15 points to go with eight rebounds, while Leary had 10 points. Sherrelle Holmes sparked the Wildcats, tallying 25 points, nine assists and seven steals. Simmons finished with 23 points and 11 boards, and Nordia Henry had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Next up for Caldwell is a conference game at Bloomfield College on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.