Devils Win Streak Now at Seven

Four players reached double figures as the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia women's basketball team cruised to their seventh straight win, 70-47 over Wilmington College at the Bobby Morgan Arena tonight in Philadelphia.

The win improves the Devils record to 11-6 overall and 9-4 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games. Wilmington falls to 9-9 overall and 6-7 in league play. The win moves the Devils into a tie for third place with Philadelphia University with identical 9-4 records. Bloomfield College is in second place with a 9-3 league record.

Shelby Rance (Sr., Central Columbia HS/Bloomsburg, Pa.) led all scorers with 21 points and four steals. Erin Chesnavich (Fr., Bishop O'Reilly HS/Pittston, Pa.) added 17 points and seven rebounds while Allison Weiss (So., Springfield HS/Springfield, Pa.) recorded a double-double with 10 point and 10 rebounds. Lori Sedina (Sr., Lower Cape May HS (NJ)/ Springfield, Pa.) also had 10 points, six assists and two blocks while pulling down five rebounds. Rashanna Edwards (Sr., West Windsor-Plainsboro HS/Cherry Hill, N.J.) dished out 10 assists while scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds.

The Wildcats were led by Amelia Simmons' 15 points and six rebounds. Jamie Hensley and Sherrelle Holmes each had 12 points and five rebounds for the visitors.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 7-3 lead but the Devils regained control with a 17-2 run to lead 20-9 at the 10:31 mark of the first half. Baskets by Weiss and Sedina started the run and tied the game. Rance followed with a short jumper to give the Devils the lead before Holmes tied the game again with a pair of free throws. USP then ran off 11 straight points, seven by Chesnavich and four by Rance to complete the run.

The Wildcats came back with a 12-4 run to cut USP's lead to one, 24-23 with 7:13 left, with Simmons getting seven points and Holmes five. The Devils then closed out the half with a 16-4 run. Edwards started the run with a pair of free throws and Chesnavich followed with a layup. After a Simmons jumper made the score 28-25, Edwards countered with a long three-pointer that banked off the glass as the shot clock was winding down to boost USP's lead to six 31-25 with 4:05 left. Holmes cut it back to four 31-27 at the 3:05 mark before the Devils scored the final nine points of the period to take a 40-27 lead into the locker room at the break. The Devils made six of nine shots during the final seven minutes with all three misses followed by a second chance basket. For the half the Devils shot 55.2% (16-29) while Wilmington shot 39.3% (11-28).

The Devils used an 18-5 spurt in the second half to put the game out of reach. Still leading by 13, 46-33 at the 16:07 mark, USP ran off five straight points to go up by 18, 51-33. Simmons' two free throws made the score 51-35 before Sedina made a pair of free throws and baskets by Davitra Goode (Sr., Central Islip HS/Central Islip, N.Y.), Chesnavich and Edwards put the Devils up by 22, 59-37 at the 9:31 mark. Sedina added a basket and Rance closed out the run with her third three-point field goal of the night to give the Devils their biggest lead of the night, 64-38 with 5:35 left. Wilmington outscored the Devils 9-6 over the last five minutes to make the final score 70-47.

For the game, the Devils shot 46.4% from the field (26-56) while holding Wilmington to 29.8% shooting (17-57).The Devils, who are currently ranked 5th nationally in Division II as a team in free throw percentage(78.4%), had another stellar night at the charity stripe, making 14 of 15 shots (93.3%). Wilmington shot just as well, connecting on nine of ten (90%). The Devils held a 39-31 advantage on the boards while producing an excellent assist/turnover ratio (23/13) to Wilmington's 7/17.

The Devils are on the road for their next game, a rare Saturday evening stint at Caldwell College this Saturday, January 27, 2007. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.