Pacers Click in Women's Basketball Victory over Cougars
With clutch baskets down the stretch, Catie Nealon made three 3-pointers for 10 points

Pacers Click in Women's Basketball Victory over Cougars

Women's Basketball - 12/13/2015 6:35:00 PM

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Scranton, PA - A raucous green-and-gold crowd spurred the Marywood University women's basketball team to a 57-51 come-from-behind victory over Misericordia University Sunday in the Insalaco Arena. It is the Pacers' fourth straight win over their former PAC rival.

Trailing by as much as seven points, Marywood (4-3) rallied to overcome the Cougars in the fourth quarter. Marywood outscored Misericordia 22-13 in the final stanza and held the Cougars (3-6) to just three field goals throughout the second half on 14.3 percent shooting.

Gabrielle Giordano led the Pacers with a game-high 19 points. Courtney Murray snagged 13 rebounds, marking the Pacers' high mark for the 2015-16 season. Catie Nealon dropped three 3-pointers for 10 points.

Misericordia's Justine Seely totaled 16 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double following 18 trips to the charity stripe. Liza Waleski provided 11 points.

The Pacers trailed from the opening possession to the 7:46 mark in the fourth quarter. Fifty-seven seconds in the second half, a pair of Seely free throws put Misericordia ahead 30-23 for its largest lead of the game. Following an Alexa Gerchman block, Giordano put up a layup from a long throw to end a 6:15 scoring drought.

Marywood's defense allowed a Pacers' comeback that found them within one possession (36-34) with a Giordano-from-Nealon 3-pointer with 1:42 left in the third. Misericordia went a full quarter without a field goal, and Seely ended the cold streak with a jumper with 65 seconds left on the block.

Waleski's frequent trips to the line kept the Cougars' heads above water until Nealon evened the game at 40 apiece off a Kylie Devlin dish. Giordano made five straight points and broke the stalemate with her second triple of the evening, delivered again from Devlin to put Marywood ahead 45-42 at the 6:20 mark.

Alyssa Olson and Rory Jordan upped the lead to six before the Cougars roared back with a six-point run of their own, culminating in a Leanne Forsyth basket that set things square at 49-49 with 3:19 on the clock. Devlin hustled for an offensive rebound and sent it back to Nealon for a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:33 left.

Thanks to several Misericordia turnovers, Marywood's proficiency at the charity strip was enough down the stretch. Leading by two, Giordano drew a key foul with 46 seconds and sank both ends of a double.

Marywood dominated the boards with a 48-38 advantage off the glass. The Pacers outshot the Cougars 32.8-to-27.5 percent from the field. Misericordia's 20 free throws towered the Pacers' performance from the line. Marywood sank five 3s to the Cougars' three.

The Pacers host Susquehanna University Friday at 6:00 pm in the Insalaco Arena.
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