BOX SCORE

Gwynedd Valley, PA (Jan. 11, 2006) – Gwynedd-Mercy College hit 3s on three straight possessions during a 16-2 second half run that salted away a 76-63 win over Alvernia College Wednesday evening in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at the Griffin Complex.

            The Griffins (10-2, 5-0 PAC) finished the night 7-for-20 from behind the 3-point arc while the Crusaders (2-9, 1-3) hit just once in six attempts from long range.  Alvernia sophomore Ashley Shrawder (Dalmatia, PA/Line Mountain) hit a jumper at the 15:16 mark of the second to pull the Crusaders within three, 46-43.  GMC answered with a 3 from Kristy Cramp (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) and got two more on successive possessions from Bridget Morrin (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert) to run off nine straight in a 1:17 span building a 12-point lead, 55-43, with 13:46 to play.

            Alvernia missed a 3 on its next possession and turned the ball over for the fourth time in five possessions before Ashley Vandiver (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) dropped in a layup to push the gap to 14.  Vandiver followed with a free throw before Shrawder hit a jumper for the Crusaders, their only bucket in a span of 7:40.

            GMC scored on two more free throws and layup at the 11:00 mark capping the 16-2 run and forging the largest lead of the night, a 17-point edge, 62-45.  Alvernia closed the gap to 10, 64-54 with 6:42 to play, getting five free throws during a 9-2 run that spanned 4:18.  Gwynedd-Mercy responded with five straight points to push the lead to 15 and held Alvernia to five points in the final 4:30 to earn its 10th win of the season.

            The host Griffins built a number of first half leads between five and seven points, but each time Alvernia pulled within one or two points; the latest on a Shrawder jumper at 4:50 that resulted in a 26-25 score.  The lead bounced between three and five points over the next 2:15 and GMC closed the half with six straight points to take a 38-29 lead into the break.

            The spread jumped between eight and 10 points for the early part of the second half before Alvernia ran off seven straight points to pull within three, 44-41.  Senior guard Mandy Reinhart (Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove) fueled the run with five of her 11 points.  Vandiver stopped the run with a jumper and Shrawder’s jumper at 15:16 preceded the Griffins’ decisive run.

            Alvernia got a game-high 11 rebounds and 12 points from Erin Knarr (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) and Shrawder tallied 10 points off the bench.  Gwynedd-Mercy was led by Vandiver with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Jackie Dougherty (Roslyn, PA/Abington) tallied 14 for the Griffins and Jillian Chiarantona (Abington, PA/Gwynedd-Mercy Academy) added 12.

            Alvernia will return home to host conference foe Arcadia University on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 as part of a women’s and men’s doubleheader.

Gwynedd-Mercy 76, Alvernia 63