Box Score
Scranton, PA – Marielle Thorsen scored a career-high 30 points and Mariah Schaeffer added 21 points as Marywood University's women's basketball team clinched the second seed in next week's Colonial States Athletic Conference playoffs with an 87-78 victory over Centenary College on Thursday evening. The Pacers, who tie the program record for wins in a season, improve to 19-6 overall and 13-3 in the CSAC and will host a conference semifinal game next Wednesday night.
The two teams traded the lead nine times over the first nine minutes of Thursday night's contest, the final swap coming on a lay-in by Marywood's Thorsen that put the Pacers up 19-18 with 10:46 to play in the first half. After Brittany Mang nailed a jumper for Marywood to put them up by three, Centenary's Jasmine Rosa cut the hosts' advantage back to a single point on a field goal. Thorsen countered with a lay-up that started an 8-0 run by the Pacers that saw them ahead 29-20 with 9:05 to play after reigning CSAC Player of the Week Allison Bruet converted her second-consecutive three-point play.
Centenary was able to trim Marywood's lead to three points at 40-37 with 2:14 to play, but the Pacers scored the final seven points of the first half and would lead by 10 at the intermission after Mang drained a jumper with five seconds showing on the clock.
Thorsen had 21 first-half points to lead all scorers while Bruet finished the period with 10 points as Marywood who 47.4 percent from the field for the half.
Centenary was paced by Hannah Ally's nine points in the opening half while Katy DeGraw and Jen Vasta netted eight points apiece in the opening 20 minutes of play as the Cyclones shot 42.9 percent from the floor in the opening frame.
Centenary would score the first four points of the second half to cut their deficit to 49-41, but Marywood used an 8-0 run over a three and a half minute span to build a 17-point advantage at 67-50 with 12:27 to play. The Pacers would extend their lead to as many as 21 points with 7:51 to play on a lay-in by Schaeffer, who netted 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pacers would never look back in securing their 19th win of the season, matching them with the 1986-87 NCAA Tournament qualifying squad for the most wins by a Marywood team.
Thorsen led all scorers with a career-best 30 points on 10-24 shooting from the floor including 4-10 from beyond the arc and 6-7 from the free throw line. Schaeffer's 21 points came on 6-9 shooting and a 9-12 effort from beyond the arc. Bruet ended the night with 16 points and a team-best 16 rebounds while Mang was the fourth Pacer in double figures with 10 points. Marywood shot 45.2 percent from the field for the game, 35.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.2 percent fro the free throw line as the Pacers completed the season-sweep of the Cyclones.
Centenary, who ends the regular season with a 13-11 overall record (10-6 CSAC), was led by Vasta's 22 points. Bridget McCann netted 18 points while DeGraw finished the evening with a double-double on 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Centenary, who shot 45.5 percent from the field for the game and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe for the game, will travel to third-seeded Immaculata University as the sixth seed in a first round playoff match-up on Monday evening.
Marywood, winners of the CSAC North Division for the second-straight year, will host the lowest remaining seed from Monday's first round action in a conference semifinal game next Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the Insalaco Arena.
