Pacers' Upset Bid Falls Short to Cabrini
Seniors Brittany Mang, Carly Leitzel and Kim Martin were honored before Saturday's game versus Cabrini

Pacers' Upset Bid Falls Short to Cabrini

Women's Basketball - 2/1/2014 3:19:00 PM

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Scranton, PA – Defending Colonial States Athletic Conference champion Cabrini College held Marywood University to just two points in the final 8:19  to break open a late second half tie en route to a 58-48 victory Saturday in CSAC women's basketball. The Pacers had the Pacers tied at 46-46 before the Cavaliers finished on a 12-2 run to end the game.

Ashley Murray was the Pacers' lone representative in double figures with 10 points. Maddie Lavery grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Danielle Terranella provided nine points, and Nora Joyce scored eight.

The Pacers' tantalizing defense kept the first-place Cavaliers (16-4, 10-1 CSAC) to just 24.6 percent shooting. Marywood (12-7, 7-4 CSAC) connected on a third of its shots.

Trailing Marywood 46-39 at 10:49 in the second half, Marywood went on a nine-point run over a 2:30 minute span to even the contest. After Joyce drove the lane for a successful layup, Murray made three baskets to score seven points in a matter of 80 seconds.

Riding a 13 consecutive free throw streak, Murray was fouled on the Pacers' next possession with a chance to take the lead. Having one missed one free throw in 33 attempts on the year, Murray failed to convert each of her free throws at 7:45. On the other end, Cabrini's Colleen Stewart grabbed an offensive rebound and put up a jumper to regain the lead. The Cavaliers went up five (51-46) on their next possession when Brittany Sandone tabbed a three-point play.

Stewart's dominance down-low paid dividends for Cabrini with four offensive boards in a four-minute span. A pair of Annie Rivituso free throws extended the Cavalier lead to seven with four minutes remaining. Marywood scored its only basketball of the final minutes when Daniella Castellanos plucked a Cabrini pass and raced for a fast-break layup to cut the deficit to five (53-48) with 1:38 remaining.

Foul trouble hurt the Pacers, and Cabrini made five-of-six on three trips to the line in the final 90 seconds.

An 11-2 run late in the first half gave Marywood a three-point (27-24) advantage with 2:04 left in the first half. Carly Leitzel hit a 3-pointer on an Alexa Gerchman no-look feed to make it a 22-21 Marywood deficit. Marywood took the lead when Morgann Haduck shoveled a base line dish to Gerchman for a stand-up jumper to take a one-point lead. Haduck made a pair of free throws to extend the Pacers lead to 24-21 as part of an eight-point run.

With the Cavaliers' shooting percentage dipped well below the 20 percent mark, two Sandone 3-pointers in the final two minutes saved face for Cabrini going into the break. A Sandone bomb rattled around the rim three seconds before the final buzzer to erase the memories of a poor shooting first half and give Cabrini a 32-28 advantage.

Immaculata University's 63-59 loss to Neumann University moves Cabrini College into first place in the CSAC standings. Marywood remains in fourth place, holding the tiebreaker edge over Gwynedd Mercy University.

Coach Tara Macciocco honored three Marywood seniors before the game. Carly Leitzel, Brittany Mang and Kim Martin were given framed jerseys.

Marywood also honored its 2014 Hall of Fame Class at halftime. Ann Conflitti '96/'05, Rebecca Grubb-Venancio '03 and Dustin Rhodes '06 received recognition for their inclusion into the prestigious athletics honor.

Marywood takes on cross-town rival The University of Scranton Wednesday at 7:00 pm at the Royals' Long Center. The Pacers return home on Feb. 12 to host Cairn University. 
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