Susquehanna Outlasts Women's Basketball in Thriller
Alexa Gerchman made 9 of 12 shots for a career-best 23 points

Susquehanna Outlasts Women's Basketball in Thriller

Women's Basketball - 12/18/2015 8:41:00 PM

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Scranton, PA - A gripping Marywood University second half comeback fell short in the final minutes in a 74-69 loss to Susquehanna University Friday night at the Insalaco Arena. Susquehanna led by as many as 12 before the Pacers charged back to lead by three late in the game. The Orange and Maroon pulled ahead in the final three minutes. 

Senior Alexa Gerchman scored a career-best 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field. Gerchman added eight rebounds and connected on all five free throws. 

Kylie Devlin had the top-scoring game of her young career with 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Devin made three 3-pointers, grabbed five rebounds, and provided five assists. Catie Nealon also reached double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds. 

Susquehanna (7-2) was led by momentous games from Courtney Adams and Angie Schedler with 24 and 23 points, respectively. Adams made 11 baskets and was a rebounds shy of a double-double. Schedler made six shots from beyond the arc. Nikki Komara toyed with a possible triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. 

The Orange and Maroon shot 43.1 percent from the field, while the Pacers made 39.1 percent of their shots. Marywood made all seven of its free throw attempts, and Susquehanna owned a slight 41-39 rebounding advantage. Both teams passed the ball proficiently with 21 helpers. 

Susquehanna saw its largest lead of the game at 1:45 left in the first half on an Adams bucket. Giordano brought the deficit to 10 with a basket from a Devlin assist to close the half at 32-22. 

Marywood (4-4) came out of the break with vigor and used a 12-5 run to cut the visitors' lead to three (41-38) on a Giordano basket via Nealon following a Tara Steakin steal at the arc. On the succeeding Susquehanna possession, Devlin stole the ball and then hit a 3-pointer from Nealon at the other end to tie the game with 4:30 left in the third. A well-constructed timeout allowed Susquehanna to go on a 9-2 run, giving them a seven-point lead in a matter of 1 minute, 42 seconds. Beginning with an Olson layup, Marywood outscored the Orange and Maroon 6-2 in the final minute. Nealon heaved a basket at the buzzer from the top of the key to make it a one-possession game (52-49) going into the final stanza. 

The Pacers broke out for a 14-3 run to take its first lead of the game. Nealon assisted a Lisa Steakin 3-pointer to even the score and aided a Devlin long-distance shot on the next possession to go ahead 65-62 with 4:50 remaining. Five consecutive points from Angie Schedler vanished the lead; however, Gerchman's guttsiness resulted in a jumper to tie it at 67 apiece with 2:50 on the clock. Angie Schedler came through again with another 3-pointer (her eighth straight point), and Nealon used her scrappy play to get a layup from a Gerchman pass to make it a one-point game with two minutes left. Two turnovers and two missed shots were the results of the final Pacer possessions, allowing an Adams basket with 59 seconds left to be the ultimate clincher. 

Marywood's bench outscored Susquehanna by a 30-10 margin. 

The Pacers return to their families for Christmas break before heading to Daytona Beach, Florida for the Land of Magic Classic. Marywood takes on Iowa Weselyan on Dec. 28 and Adrian College on Dec. 29.



 
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