WILMINGTON, Ohio – Wilmington College has a nationally strong
women’s basketball program and Pitt-Bradford hung right with them
Friday night in the opening round of the Wilmington Tournament.

The final margin was 20 points, 75-55, but UPB head coach Daly
Fuller emphasized that the Lady Panthers “did not get beat by 20
points.”

“I’m really proud of the team,” Fuller declared. “The score says
we got beat by 20, but we were in the game until the end.”

Pitt-Bradford held a lead in the first half, was down by seven
at halftime, down by two with 10 minutes remaining and by eight
with six minutes to go.

“They went on a little bit of a run there at the end, and I
don’t think we scored for the last three minutes. We just kind of
ran out of gas.”

Unforunately for the Lady Panthers (0-1), the score at the end
is the only one that counts, but Fuller was encouraged
nevertheless.

“The caliber of this team (Wilmington), and for us having six
new players on our roster, I’m extremely pleased with the effort
and the hustle that everybody put forth,” Fuller remarked. “It’s a
great building block for us going into the game tomorrow.”

Rachel Smith scored 11 points and Michelle Kushner added 10 for
Pitt-Bradford, while Katie Moore dished out five assists and Megan
Richards and Chelsey Cummings pulled down six rebounds each.

“I’m really pleased with Rachel Smith,” Fuller noted. “She
played a very, very good game. We got some offense out of her, she
took good shots and she worked hard on defense.”

The Lady Panthers will take on the loser of the Thomas
More-Juniata contest in the consolation game today at 2 p.m.
Wilmington faces Thomas More in the championship contest at 4
p.m.