Griffins Knock Off Pacers in Battle of CSAC Leaders
Carly Leitzel led Marywood with 11 points on Saturday.

Griffins Knock Off Pacers in Battle of CSAC Leaders

Women's Basketball - 1/28/2012 2:59:00 PM

Box Score

Gwynedd Valley, PA – Gwynedd-Mercy College seized control of a tight contest with a 12-2 run midway through the first half of Saturday's Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball game against Marywood University on Saturday afternoon and pulled away for an 81–51 victory.  With the win, the CSAC-leading Griffins improve to 14-6 overall and 10-1 in league play with their ninth-straight victory.  The Pacers, now 13-6 on the season (8-2 CSAC), slip into a tie for first place in the CSAC North Division with Baptist Bible College, who edged Immaculata University earlier on Saturday.
 
Carly Leitzel opened the scoring on Saturday for Marywood by nailing a three-pointer and Maggie Presnal followed with a layup to give the Pacers and early, 5-0 lead.  Marywood held the lead over the first 9:15 until a lay-in by Natasha Matthews put Gwynedd-Mercy in front 13-12 at the 10:45 mark of the opening period. 
 
After the teams swapped the lead twice, Ashley Murray put Marywood back in front, 17-15, with a pair of free throws with 7:59 left on the clock.  However, the Griffins responded with a 12-2 run to hold a 27-17 advantage with 5:18 to play and Gwynedd-Mercy would stretch their lead to 13 at 38-25 at the halftime break.
 
The two teams traded basket for basket over the first few minutes of the second half, but Marywood was unable to draw to within any closer than 11 points.  The Griffins put the game out of reach by outscoring the Pacers 21-6 over a six and a half minute span to hold a 65-38 cushion with 10:15 to play. 
 
Gwynedd-Mercy, who shot 47.5 percent from the field for the game, was led by Jordan Dominic, who scored a game-high 13 after going a perfect, 4-4 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.  Brittany Neill added 12 points while Taylour Alston added 11 point while pulling down a game-high nine rebounds.  Bryn Cotteta led all players with seven assists for the Griffins.
 
Leitzel led a trio of Pacers in double-figures with 11 points while Presnal and Morgann Haduck each chipped in 10 points apiece.  Presnal led all rebounders for Marywood after corralling eight boards while Mariah Schaeffer dished out a team-best three assists.  The Pacers struggled offensively, connecting on just 24.3 percent of their attempts from the floor and knocking down just three of 21 three-point shots.
 
Marywood returns home on Wednesday evening as Philadelphia Biblical University makes the trip up to Scranton.  The Pacers and Crimson Eagles will tipoff at 6:00 p.m. in a rematch of January 11th's CSAC contest that Marywood won 80-44 in Langhorne.
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