PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Mount Ida College senior Abbey Fedigan (New Fairfield, Conn.) grabbed a season-high ten rebounds and added 14 points for the first double-double of her final season, but Johnson & Wales University topped the Mustangs 60-47 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball contest at the Wildcat Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Mustangs held a 47-34 edge on the glass, but it wasn't enough to prevent Johnson and Wales from collecting the victory on their final regular season home game of the year.
Before the game, the Wildcats honored seniors Jenna Juron (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) and Samantha Hendrick (Castleton-On-Hudson, N.Y.).
Juron tallied 15 points and added four assists and three rebounds for Johnson & Wales while junior D'Ana Rolle (Gardner, Mass.) notched 13 points and five steals in the victory. Junior Natalie DiCocco (Media, Pa.) was also in double-figures with 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists for the Wildcats.
Junior Jenn Rafuse (Brockton, Mass.) added 14 points and six rebounds in the setback for the Mustangs. Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) grabbed ten rebounds herself and had three blocks, to go with seven points and three assists.
The two teams battled back and forth early in the contest with Mount Ida holding a 15-12 lead on a layup by Rafuse with 8:51 left in the first half. Johnson & Wales then went on an 11-0 run, capped by a layup by Rolle to take the 23-15 advantage with 4:18 remaining in the stanza. The Wildcats then took the 27-20 lead heading into the locker room at halftime after forcing Mount Ida into 14 turnovers while the Mustangs shot just 36.0% from the field.
JWU built on its lead early in the second half and took their first double-digit lead on a layup by DiCocco to make the score 31-20 with 18:16 left in the contest. The Wildcats took their largest lead of the game when a layup by Juron made the score 47-32 with 7:56 on the clock. Mt. Ida trimmed the lead to 10 on a three-pointer by Rafuse, making the score 52-42 with 2:14 remaining. It wouldn't be enough, however as JWU held on for the 60-47 victory.
For Fedigan, it was the fourth straight game that she has scored in double-figures.
With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 8-15 for the year and 5-4 in the GNAC while Mount Ida falls to 3-20 on the season and 0-9 in league play.
Mount Ida makes their final road trip of the season on Tuesday evening when they travel to Standish, Maine for a 5:30 pm matchup with Saint Joseph's (ME).
The Wildcats will return to action on Tuesday, February 18th when they travel to Emmanuel for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at 5:30 p.m.