BOX SCORE
Scranton, PA – Thursday's key Pennsylvania Athletic Conference women's basketball match-up between Alvernia College and Marywood University, both 4-4 in conference play entering the match, proved to be worth the price of admission. Alvernia used a late first-half spurt to go into the locker room up four and played solid defense all game as the Crusaders edged Marywood 59-51 at Marywood's Insalaco Arena.
Jill Rosolie led the Crusaders, now 6-12 (5-4 PAC) on the year, with 14 points. Teammates Joanna Graber and Kelli McIntyre each added 13 for Alvernia in the win. With Marywood leading much of the first half, Alvernia chipped away at a seven point Marywood lead (22-15) with a 7-0 run to knot the game at 22-22. The Crusaders then outscored Marywood 6-2 over the final 3:10 of the first half to go into intermission with a 30-26 lead.
Marywood's Caitlin Hadzimichalis (Harmony, NJ) scored six of her game-high 19 points within the first 2:13 of the second half to give Marywood a 32-30 lead, but McIntyre responded with six points of her own to put the Crusaders back up, 36-32. With the exception of one more tie at 40-40, the Crusaders would not lose their lead the rest of the game. With the scored tied at 40, Rosolie and McIntyre combined for an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach for the Pacers.
Stephanie Fusaro (Bala Cynwyd, PA) added 13 points for Marywood, who fell to 11-6 (4-5 PAC) with the loss. Alvernia was hot from the charity stripe all night, sinking 17 of their 18 free throw attempts. Rosolie added a game-high 11 rebounds and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line for Alvernia.
Marywood returns to action Saturday when they face PAC leading Gwynedd-Mercy College in Gwynedd Valley at 1:00 pm.
