COBLESKILL, N.Y. - After pouring in a game-high 18 points against Elmira College on Sunday, rookie forward Nia Rencher (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) repeated the effort on Thursday evening. However, the Western Connecticut State University women's basketball team came up on the short end of a 78-61 decision at non-conference opponent SUNY Cobleskill at Iorio Gymnasium. 

Classmate guard Deona Garcia (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) chipped in with 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while junior guard Malaysia Dingle (Brockton, Mass.) added 13 points.

Cara Walker led the hosts with 16 points and eight boards, while Logan Thayne contributed 13 and six, respectively.

The Fighting Tigers knocked down 26-of-58 (44 percent) of their shots from the floor while the Wolves managed to connect on 20-of-64 (31 percent) attempts.

Dingle netted the first basket of the game off a feed from Rencher but the hosts would finish with the opening quarter with a spurt to capture a 17-12 lead when Annie Canales sank a trifecta shortly before the buzzer.

WestConn sliced the gap to just a point, 23-22, midway through the second quarter before Cobleskill reeled off another run to move ahead 36-27 at halftime. The Fighting Tigers opened the third quarter with a barrage and would not look back, stretching the lead to as much as 25 en route to the victory.

With the loss, the Wolves dropped to 4-7 overall while Cobleskill improved to 11-2. WestConn  will seek to snap the skid when they travel to William Paterson University for another non-league tilt on Saturday at 1 p.m.