Women's Basketball finishes as 2025 HBCUAC Championship Runner-Up
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Wiley University women's basketball team ended the 2024-25 season by advancing to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) 2025 Hope Credit Union Basketball Championship. It fell to No. 4 seed Philander Smith University 49-38.
The Lady Wildcats finish the season 15-14, giving them their second winning season in three years. This was its furthest advance in the HBCUAC Basketball Championship since joining the conference in 2022 when it was known as the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. It's their first conference championship game appearance since 2013.
Wiley struck first and led 8-4 after the first quarter on three baskets by Jessica Nerestant. It forced five turnovers and held the Panthers to 2-for-16 from the field. Philander Smith tied the game early in the second quarter. Kendall Campbell put Wiley back on top. Mya Jones increased the lead to four. The Lady Wildcats struggled possessing the ball, turning it over seven times and not hitting a shot for the last 8:31. This allowed Philander Smith to score 19 unanswered points. Wiley trailed 24-12 at halftime.
Mary Leday ended the drought with a layup with 7:42 left in the third. The Lady Wildcats could not rally as it shot 10-for-32 in the second half and 1-for-9 from 3-point territory. Nerestant closed her playing career with her 12th double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds and earning a spot on the HBCUAC All-Tournament Team. Celebria Peacock followed with 11 points in her final game. Leday, Alsup and Elizabeth Camacho, who was injured and didn't play in the tournament, wrapped their collegiate playing careers.
Wiley has a strong group returning led by starting center Jones, Zacyria Dozier, who started the previous five games, Kelechi Dike, who was first off the bench and will likely start next season, Kendall Campbell, who increased her production at the end of the season and Emilee Proctor, who made significant contributions off the bench but suffered a season-ending injury at the beginning of the second half of the season.
Head coach DeWitt Mandley and assistant coach Nigel Mayfield will look to add recruits and set up the Lady Wildcats for an even better season in 2025-26.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit https://wileyathletics.com/sports/wbkb/index
About Wiley University Athletics
Wiley University sponsors 12 varsity sports: women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field and baseball. It competes in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) and the Continental Athletic Conference for men's and women's soccer.
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