LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University women's basketball team won, 57-52 at home against Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) opponent Rosemont College on Wednesday evening, marking their fourth-straight victory to improve them to 5-2 in the CSAC, their best start in conference play through seven games all-time.
 
On Cairn's first shot of the contest, senior guard Dakota Hitchner (Ocean City, NJ / Atlantic Christian) became the 16^th player in program history to earn the distinction of scoring 1,000 career points after an opening triple.

ICYMI: @CairnWBB senior DJ Hitchner wasted zero time on Wednesday evening, eclipsing the career 1,000-point mark on Cairn's first shot of the night!#GoCairn #CairnWBB pic.twitter.com/C75C6gKpcw

— Cairn Highlanders (@CairnAthletics) January 13, 2022

Cairn (7-5, 5-2 CSAC) rode Hitchner early, as the senior scored the Highlanders first 10 points of the contest and jumped out to a 10-2 run over Rosemont (2-8, 2-3 CSAC) just over four minutes in. The Highlanders led 16-10 after one. In the second stanza, Cairn increased its lead to a dominant 21-point margin (38-17) coming off of a 12-0 run to close the period.
 
In the third quarter, the Highlanders kept the Ravens at a double digit deficit and led by 14 (47-33) after three. In the final frame, the Ravens stormed back, mounting a 19-5 run over the first nine minutes of the period to knot the game up at 52-52. With the clock winding down, Hitchner went to work again, burying her third triple of the game to put Cairn back in front with 15 seconds left. Cairn forced a Rosemont turnover on the next posession and two missed shots down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
Cairn shot 37.3% (22-59) from the floor compared to 30.3% (20-66) for the Ravens. Cairn dished out 13 assists in the contest and forced 23 Rosemont turnovers, scoring 14 points off those Raven miscues. The Highlanders also shot 42.1% (8-19) from long range, their second-best mark this season.
 
Cairn was led offensively by Hitchner, who poured in a game-high 23 points one nine-of-18 shooting to go along with five boards and a game-high five assists. Hitchner now stands with 1,020 career points. Freshman Tamia Warner (Ewing, NJ / Ewing) followed in double figures with 10 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Warner also snagged a game-and career high four steals, while classmate Kailee Sobrino (Vail, AZ / Empire HS) added seven points and four assists.
 
Cairn will be back in action on Saturday, January 15 when it travels to La Plume to take on conference foe Keystone College, putting its four-game win streak on the line against the Giants.