Pacers Hand Cyclones Defeat, Clinch CSAC Playoff Berth
Maggie Presnal scored a team-high 15 points, seven rebounds in a key win

Pacers Hand Cyclones Defeat, Clinch CSAC Playoff Berth

Women's Basketball - 2/16/2015 8:25:00 PM

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Hackettstown, NJ - Marywood University qualified for the Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball playoffs with a 62-57 victory Monday over Centenary College. With two games remaining, the Pacers (15-8, 10-4 CSAC) sit in a tie for third place with Gwynedd Mercy University. 

Maggie Presnal led three Pacers in double digits with 15 points. Presnal made 5 of 7 shots from the field and cashed in on all five free throw attempts. Danielle Terranella totaled 11 points, and Alexa Gerchman provided 10. 

Gerchman and Presnal had a team-high seven rebounds. Nora Joyce garnered nine points and five assists.

Centenary College also had three players with 10-plus points. Both Nicole Cartaino and Mallory George provided 16 points. Ally Fugnitti tallied 12 points. George was a rebound shy of a double-double. 

Free throw shooting proved to be a deciding factor in the game. Both teams made 15 trips to the line; however, Marywood made a dozen (80 percent) to the Cyclones' eight (53.3 percent). Both teams finished with 37 rebounds. Marywood shot 46.2 percent from the floor, holding Centenary to 36.7 percent on defense. 

Centenary trailed by as many as 11 in the second half before roaring back in the late stages. An eight-point run slashed the deficit to 40-38 at 13:27 remaining, thanks to a Cartaino jumper. A 10-2 stretch gave Centenary its first lead (55-54) of the second half when Rachel Edwards counted two with 3:52 remaining. George gave the Cyclones another one-point lead (57-56) with less than two minutes to go. 

Maddie Lavery swished a jump shot to retake the lead with 1:35 remaining. Fugnitti came short on a 3-point shot, and Lindsey Schroth extended the lead to three at the other end. A turnover and a foul allowed Presnal to close out the win with a pair of free throws with 40 ticks left. 

Marywood travels to Towson, Maryland Wednesday to take on Notre Dame of Maryland University before closing its regular season with a key matchup at Gwynedd Mercy Friday. A win over the Gators would assure the Pacers of a home playoff game. The Pacers are a game behind second-place Immaculata University (with two remaining versus Centenary) and two games ahead of fifth place Keystone College. Rosemont College, Neumann University and Centenary are all vying for the sixth and final playoff spot. 

 
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