On Nov. 9, the Wilkes University women’s basketball team had their opening game of the season at the Marts Center against Albright College.

This is the third time we have competed against Albright since 2011 and Wilkes had lost each time. This time, Albright scored 23 more baskets than Wilkes with a final game score of 54-77. 

Nine out of the fourteen players on Wilkes’ team made baskets for the team’s score of 54.

This season, the Colonels welcome five incoming freshmen: Delaney Bogdan, Carolyn Lundy, Elizabeth Viglone, Maliyah Warren and Dana Warzenluft. Three of the five freshmen scored a total of seven points.

Albright started the game strong and didn’t lose any momentum through each period. 

During the first period, Albright scored eight points before Wilkes scored once. Wilkes quickly got on their tail when Reagan Holden sored the first two points for Wilkes. After Holden scored two free-throws Maliyah Warren received a foul.

Yamirelis Matos is a junior and the top scorer of the season opener. She also played the most minutes throughout the whole game with a total of 34 minutes. Matos went on a seven basket streak during the first half where nobody else was scoring except for her.

The second period was full of Wilkes fouls with over three players getting fouls and Warren receiving two fouls. Nadis Evanosky had a good second period with two turnovers and stole the ball from Albright player Ciarra Gibbs during the first six minutes of the second period. By the end of the first half Wilkes had 32 baskets and Albright was leading with 41 points.

Maliyah Warren made a three-pointer within the first minute of the third period. Bogdan then steals the ball and Matos makes a layup. Bogdan and Warren were subbed out and Madison Robel and Madison Olguin were subbed in. Robel proceeded to make a rebound only 30 seconds after joining the game. Robel received a foul and made two more free throws during her time in the third period.

After a challenging third period full of more fouls from both teams, the score was Albright with 62 and Wilkes with 49 points. Emma Stout came in strong during the final quarter with a three-pointer with an assist from Warren. It was a difficult fourth and final quarter for the Colonels.

The final score of the game was 77 points for Albright and Wilkes with 54. Unfortunately Wilkes did lose their home opener. 

They won’t have another chance during the regular season to face Albright College again. However, they still have many more games to reclaim their title, including a game against one of their rivals Misericordia University on Nov. 12 in Dallas, Pa.