NEW CASTLE, Del. - Senior guard Kirsty Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Acad.) scored a game-high 21 points as the Caldwell College women's basketball team defeated Wilmington University, 86-54 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Saturday afternoon at Wilmington's Pratt Center. The victory gives the Cougars an 18-5 record on the season and improves their conference mark to 14-3, a half-game behind Bloomfield College for first place in the CACC North Division. The Wildcats drop to 2-23, 2-16 CACC with the loss.

Caldwell never trailed, as seven points from Leedham helped the Cougars take an early 19-2 lead five minutes into the game. Wilmington responded with an 11-2 run of its own to cut the lead to eight, 21-13. But Caldwell regained control and led by as many as 23 points before taking a 47-27 advantage into the halftime break. The Cougars shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, including 4-of-9 from three-point range, while holding the Wildcats to 29.7 percent shooting.

The second half was more of the same as Caldwell expanded its lead to 67-35 with 13 minutes remaining. The Cougars shot even better in the second half, making 57.1 percent of their field goal attempts in leading by as many as 36 points. For the game, Caldwell outrebounded Wilmington 46-29, including 22-9 in the second half, and dished out a season-high 25 assists.

Leedham, pictured, shot 8-of-12 from the floor and added four assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Freshman forward Jeanette Anderson (Lynn, MA/Lynn English) notched her eighth double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Others contributing for Caldwell include sophomore guard Torey Jones (Providence, RI/LaSalle Acad.) with 13 points and seven assists, junior forward Kaitlyn Lambert (Cumberland, RI/Cumberland) with 11 points, and sophomore center Gillian Felix (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) with 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Senior guard Abena George (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial) also dished out seven assists. Brittney Robinson scored 15 points to lead Wilmington.

The Cougars return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 23 with a CACC game at Post University. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. in Waterbury, Conn.