WASHINGTON - The Catholic University of America women’s basketball team won its fourth straight game in December with a 68-41 triumph over Wesley College on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Payton Smith captured a season-high 18 points as she sunk 3-of-3 from the free throw line and 6-of-11 from the field. Sophomore Mollie Reynolds recorded 12 points and senior Samantha Cowan totaled 11. Junior Sarah O'Neill led the Catholic reserves with six points.

Defensively, the Cardinals collected 19 steals with Reynolds securing a game-high of five while sophomore Sydney Poindexter, freshman Maggie Rakowsky and Cowan each registered three. Fellow sophomore Megan Stafford pulled down a team-high six rebounds and rookie Mary Matula came off the bench to record a team-high two blocks.

Catholic and Wesley battled through the opening eight minutes to a 10-all tie before junior Emily O'Connor hit a jumper to give the Cards a lead that they would carry through the final buzzer. The Cardinals played to a  17-13 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes.

Cowan opened the second period with a  three-pointer to give Catholic a seven-point margin over Wesley. With additional baskets from O’Neill and Poindexter, the Cardinals gained a 24-19 lead at the halftime break.

Reynolds and Smith jump-started the third period with back-to-back buckets from long range. Catholic went on to outscore Wesley 26-15 in the quarter for a significant advantage (50-34) heading into the final 10-minutes.

The Cardinals carried the fire into the final quarter with an 18-7 run. Eight of Catholic’s fourth-quarter points came off the bench including two good free throws from freshman Courtney McCool which gave the Cardinals their largest margin (29 points) of the event.

The Cardinals continue their December slate when they travel to the west coast to take on UC Santa Cruz and Cal Lutheran. Tip-off versus UC Santa Cruz is set for 9 p.m., EST on Wednesday, December 20. Catholic will face Cal Lutheran the following day at 7 p.m. EST.

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