Marywood Remains Perfect at Home With 61-55 Win Over Neumann
Mariah Schaeffer scored a game-high 18 points in Marywood's win over Neumann on Wednesday night.

Marywood Remains Perfect at Home With 61-55 Win Over Neumann

Women's Basketball - 1/18/2012 8:54:00 PM

Box Score

Scranton, PA – Mariah Schaeffer moved into sixth place on Marywood's all-time scoring list after scoring a game-high 18 points to lead the Pacers to a 61-55 victory over visiting Neumann University in a Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Wednesday evening.  Marywood, who used a late, 7-0 run to take control of the tight contest improves to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play.  The Pacers also improve to 7-0 on their home court while the Knights fall to 7-9 overall and 6-2 in the CSAC.
 
Marywood scored the first seven points of Wednesday night's game, led by five points by Schaeffer, but Neumann used a 12-4 run to hold a 12-11 advantage with 10:42 to play in the first half.  The teams would trade the lead five times over the next two and a half minutes before a layup by Allison Bruet put the Pacers back on top with 8:16 remaining in the period. 
 
The hosts stretched their advantage to 25-21 on a Maddie Lavery jumper with 3:44 left on the clock, but Neumann forged back into a tie at 28-apiece at the 1:41 mark.  Back to back field goals by Brittany Mang and Ashley Murray put Marywood ahead by four and the Pacers would hold a 32-29 halftime advantage.
 
Schaeffer led all scorers in the first half with nine points while Marielle Thorsen netted six points in the opening half as the Pacers shots 38.9 percent from the floor in the period.  The Pacers forced Neumann to turn the ball over 16 times in the first period led by 11 steals by Carly Leitzel.
 
The Knights, who shot 52.2 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, got five points apiece from Laura Scott and Colleen Hinde.  Neumann held a 23-16 advantage in rebounds in the first half led by seven boards by Scott.
 
After the Knights scored the first bucket of the second half, Marywood went on a 9-2 run to hold a 41-33 lead with 15:50 to play.  Neumann chipped away at Marywood's lead, cutting it to two at 45-43 with nine and a half minutes left, and eventually tying the contest at 49-49 on a lay-in by Scott with 4:28 showing on the clock. 
 
Maggie Presnal put the Pacers back on top with a field goal 15 seconds later, but Neumann got free throws from Bethany Humenik and Scott to even the score with 3:41 to play.  On the ensuing possession, Murray canned a huge three-pointer that would give the Pacers a 54-51 lead before a pair of Humenik free throws at the other end brought the Knights to back within a single point, but Marywood would score the games next seven points, led by four from Schaeffer, to take control and lead 61-53 with 51 seconds to play to seal the win as the Pacers remain unbeaten in the Insalaco Arena. 
 
Schaeffer finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-14 shooting to move into sixth place on Marywood's all-time scoring list as the senior guard now has 1,130 points for her career.  Thorsen added 11 points and team-highs of six steals and four assists while Bruet added 10 points.  Presnal led Marywood with eight rebounds on the evening and the Pacers finished the evening hitting on 40 percent of their shots from the floor.
 
Scott recorded a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead Neumann, who shot 46.7 percent from the field for the game.   Humenik ended the contest with 11 points while Sami Borcky led all players with 14 rebounds as the Knights held a 44-31 advantage on the glass for the game.
 
The Pacers return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Immaculata University at 1:00 p.m. in a CSAC matchup in Marywood's Insalaco Arena.  Marywood defeated the Mighty Macs during the regular season last year before Immaculata topped the Pacers in Scranton last winter in the CSAC Semifinals.
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