WILMINGTON, Del.- Caldwell University women's basketball junior Casey O'Shaughnessy (Brooklyn, N.Y.) dropped in a game-high 28 points, including 22 in the second half, as the Cougars defeated Goldey-Beacom College 86-79 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest.
 
The Cougars win their third in a row to improve to 9-5 overall and 4-1 in the CACC, while the Lightning fall to 6-9 and 1-6 in conference play.
 
Caldwell opened up a 14-2 lead midway through the opening quarter as senior Paula Dits (Alicante, Spain) and graduate Shanice Graves (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drained three-pointers to pace the Cougars to an early lead.
 
The Lightning rallied back to cut the score to 20-15 early in the second quarter but the Cougars answered with a run to take a double-digit lead. O'Shaughnessy drained a triple, while Graves added a three-point play as part of an 18-8 run. Junior Jessica Wagoner (Clifton Park, N.Y.) scored on back-to-back possessions to cap the run and push the Caldwell lead to 38-23 with 3:28 left in the half. Goldey-Beacom battled back late to close the gap to 45-39 at halftime.
 
Goldey-Beacom trimmed the score to 47-45 early in the second half but Caldwell rallied with a 12-2 run. O'Shaughnessy netted eight points in the run, including a trifecta, to help the Cougars push ahead 59-47 late in the third quarter.
 
The Lightning got as close as 61-58 late in the third quarter but the Cougars answered to pull ahead 80-64 midway through the fourth quarter. Caldwell thwarted a late run by the Lightning to earn their third straight win.
 
O'Shaughnessy shot 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from downtown, finishing with a game-high 28 points along with two rebounds. Graves tallied 15 points, seven boards and six assists, while Wagoner added 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Dits grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds, while totaling nine points and three assists.
 
The Cougars host Bloomfield College for a CACC contest on Tuesday, January 18 at 5:30 pm.