Middletown, Conn. – Senior guard Maeve Vitale scored 17 points to propel the Wesleyan University women's basketball team to a 59-50 win over visiting Trinity College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action Friday night in Silloway Gymnasium.  Trinity sophomore Peace Kabari (Manchester, N.H.) also had 17 points, but the Bantams dropped to 13-8 overall and 1-6 in NESCAC play with their third setback in a row.  The Cardinals improved to 15-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play.  Kabari also led the Bantams in rebounding with nine and and steals with three, while junior center Courtney Erickson (Everett, Mass.) dropped 13 points and pulled in six boards.  Wesleyan held a 47-36 edge in rebounding and outscored the Bantams 28-18 in the paint.  Trinity hosts league rival Connecticut College on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The first quarter went back-and-forth often and featured four lead changes.  With the game tied at 8-8, Cardinal junior guard Olivia Gorman hit one from downtown to put the home team ahead.  With 5:24 remaining in the second quarter, a jumper by Bantam sophomore center Emily Peters (North Attleboro, Mass.) evened the score at 20-20.  Wesleyan outscored the Bantams 10-2 down the stretch and a layup by Maddie Bledsoe with :53 remaining gave the home team a 30-22 halftime lead. 

It was all Trinity in the third quarter as the Bantams opened the second half with a 10-0 run capped off by a basket from Kabari at the 7:24 mark to claim a 32-30 lead.  The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the quarter and with only eight seconds on the clock, Trinity junior forward Erin Cunningham hit a three-pointer to even the game at 39-39 entering the fourth.  Early in the final quarter, Bledsoe drove to the basket and was fouled while hitting her layup. She was unable to convert the three-point play, but Vitale grabbed the rebound and hit one from behind-the-arc just seconds later to put Wesleyan ahead by five at 44-39.  Trinity got within one with 5:49 to play thanks to a trey and a pair of free throws by junior guard Becky Riefler (Garden City, N.Y.) but Vitale came up big with two big three-pointers to give Wesleyan an eight-point lead.  Trinity got cold at the end, falling to make a shot from the floor the rest of the way.