Box Score
Scranton, PA - Immaculata University used an 18-2 run over nearly an eight-minute span midway through the second half to take control of Tuesday evening's first round Colonial States Athletic Conference playoff game on their way to a 61-48 victory over Marywood University. The sixth-seeded Mighty Macs improve to 16-9 with the win and advance to play top-seeded Neumann University in the conference semifinals on Thursday while the Pacers end their season with an 18-7 record.
Marywood, who entered Tuesday's game unbeaten at home, jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead over the first 2:21, but Immaculata countered with an 11-0 run of their own. The Pacers managed to tie the score five times during the rest of the half, including leveling the score at 26-26 with 1:33 to play in the opening period on a Mariah Schaeffer (Bainbridge, NY) lay-up before the Mighty Macs' Leah Kuczynski hit a lay-up with nine seconds left to give the visitors a 28-26 halftime lead.
Immaculata, who shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the opening half, were led by Chrissy Esbensen's 12 points. Marywood got six first half points from Lauren Rogan (Archbald, PA) and five from Marielle Thorsen (Belvidere, NJ) while shooting 29.7 percent from the field.
The first five minutes of the second half were played just as tightly as the first half, with Marywood reclaiming a 34-32 lead with 16:43 to play on a Stephanie Fusaro (Bala Cynwyd, PA) lay-up. Immaculata would reclaim a 36-34 lead at the 14:38 mark, but Fusaro knotted the score with another lay-up 28 seconds later. However, the Mighty Macs would go on a decisive surge over the next 7:58, outscoring the Pacers 18-2 over that span to build 54-38 advantage with 6:12 to play. Immaculata would stretch their lead to as many as 19 points over the rest of the game to send their Pacers to their first defeat of the season in the Insalaco Arena.
Immaculata, who finished the game shooting 38.6 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from three-point range, got 17 points apiece from Esbensen and Chelsea McTigue. Kuczynski finished with the game's lone double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Mighty Macs, who shot 81.3 percent from the free throw line.
Marywood was led by Schaeffer's 14-point effort while Lauren Rogan finished 11 points in the loss. Lizzy Green (Shenandoah, PA) led the Pacers with eight rebounds. Marywood shot 31.8 percent from the floor on the evening, including 25 percent from beyond the arc.
Immaculata, who avenged an 80-66 los to Marywood in the conference opener for both teams on November 30th, converted 13 of their 16 free throw attempts, while the Pacers went to the line just five times on the evening and connect on just one attempts from the charity stripe.
Despite the loss, Marywood enjoy a fine 2009-2010 season, with their 18 wins on the season ranking second all-time in program history. The Pacers completed the regular season unbeaten at home and senior Amanda Lass (Brackney, PA) finished her career as the seventh-leading scorer in Marywood history with 1,112 points.
