Pacers Topple Aggies for First ECAC Victory, Match Program Wins Mark
Natasha Hessling took over late with 19 points, nine rebounds

Pacers Topple Aggies for First ECAC Victory, Match Program Wins Mark

Women's Basketball - 3/2/2016 9:31:00 PM

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Scranton, PA - Fourth-seeded Marywood University advanced to the ECAC Division III South Region women's basketball semifinals for the first time in program history with a 65-55 victory over No. 5 Delaware Valley University. The Pacers matched a program record with their 19th victory of the season. 

Marywood (19-8) advances to face top-seeded Washington & Jefferson College in the semifinals Saturday. The game is scheduled tentatively for 3:00 pm on the Presidents' home court in Washington, Pa., located 35 minutes south of Pittsburgh. It will be proceeded by seventh-seeded Waynesburg University and No. 3 Stevenson University tipping off in the other ECAC South semi Saturday at 1:00 pm. The championship is slated for Sunday at 2:00 pm at Washington & Jefferson. 

Natasha Hessling scored a career-high 19 points on an 8-for-12 performance from the field. Gabrielle Giordano followed with 17 points. Both Hessling and Giordano were a rebound shy of a double-double. Hessling's previous high was 15 points scored Feb. 6 versus Immaculata. 

Courtney Murray set the program record with 101st career block. Catie Nealon contributed 12 points and four steals for the Pacers. Alexa Gerchman dished out eight assists and collected eight rebounds. 

Jostens Trophy candidate, CoSIDA Academic All-American, and MAC Freedom Player of the Year Eireann Anastasi concluded her illustrious Aggies career with 25 points and six steals. She finished with 10 field goals on 27 attempts. Sam Foy tallied 10 points and eight rebounds. 

Thanks to Hessling's hustle down in the paint, Marywood outrebounded Delaware Valley by a 27-16 margin in the second half after the Aggies' tormented them off the glass in the first. Marywood sported a 43-37 advantage in rebounds. The Pacers benefited off a 19-8 lead in points off turnovers. 

The 10-point victory overshadowed the Aggies' dominance for most of the game. The Pacers led for just 10 minutes, 42 seconds, in contrast to Delaware Valley's 24-plus minutes with a share of the lead. 

Delaware Valley outscored the Pacers 11-5 for the first seven minutes of the second quarter, holding a seven-point lead with 3:36 left in the frame. Two minutes of scoreless basketball was interrupted by a defensive rebound and a layup on the other end by Nealon. Giordano turned a Kylie Devlin pass for a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 30-28 with 14 seconds left. Anastasi made a terrific play to hit a 3-point shot from five feet outside of the arc to end the half. Nealon knocked the ball away but Anastasi grabbed it from her weak side and chucked up a spot-up shot just before the buzzer. 

The third quarter played out much like the first half of the game. Delaware Valley sliced its largest deficit (41-37) of the game with a six-point run over 2:20. Anastasi scored four points in the final 28 seconds to go into the end of the third with a 49-46 lead. 

Marywood toppled the depleted Aggies by a 19-6 total in the fourth quarter. Tara Steakin tied the game at 49-49 just 23 seconds into the fourth. After over three minutes of scoreless basketball, Hessling grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in for the go-ahead basket. Nealon's steal set up a Gerchman layup to punctuate a seven-point stretch and cement a 53-49 lead with 6:45 remaining. Delaware Valley (13-14) made it a one-possession game with five minutes left; however, an Olson free throw and a Nealon jump shot were enough to keep the Aggies at bay. Giordano made six free throws in the final 42 seconds to ensure the semifinal date.

Marywood shot 35 percent from the field to the Aggies' 36.5 percent. Delaware Valley made only four trips to the free throw line. 

It marks the Pacers' first ECAC victory in five tournaments. Marywood lost its previous four previous games by an average of 4.25 points, including a five-point overtime heartbreaker to Moravian College last year and a one-point loss to Bethany College in 2011-12. 
 
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