BOX SCORE

Immaculata, PA (Jan. 7, 2006) – Immaculata University, which trailed by as many as seven points in the second half, scored the final seven points of the game to take a 74-69 win over Alvernia College Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at Immaculata.

            Trailing 69-67 with 3:52 to play, Immaculata got two straight buckets from Mary Kate Pawlowski to take a 71-69 lead with 1:44 on the clock.  The Crusaders, who went 0-for-5 from the floor with two turnovers down the stretch, missed on their next two possessions before Dominique Murray put the Mighty Macs up four, 73-69 on a jumper with 17 seconds left.  Nina Cammarano closed the scoring making 1-of-2 free throws with no time left on the clock.  Alvernia (1-8, 0-2 PAC), the preseason PAC favorite will host Cedar Crest on Monday before traveling to Gwynedd-Mercy on Wednesday for a showdown with the Griffins.

            Alvernia jumped out to an 8-3 lead as sophomore guard Ashley Shrawder (Dalmatia, PA/Line Mountain) scored all four of her points in the opening two minutes.  The first half lead grew to eight points, 14-6 with junior Camrell Gholston (Westminster, MD/McDonogh School) and Maria Williams (Philadelphia, PA/Padua Academy) combining for six straight points.

            Immaculata regained the lead with a 14-3 run that put the hosts up three, 20-17 with 10:16 left in the opening half.  The lead changed hands a few times and with the score tied at 28-all, Alvernia ripped off a 12-4 run to reestablish the eight point advantage, 40-32.  Freshman forward Allee Barnes (Blooming Glen, PA/Pennridge) scored seven of her game-high 17 points during the run and Williams capped it with a 3 at the 1:38 mark. 

            Immaculata answered with three straight free throws and Lisa Williams hit a 3 at the first half horn that pulled the hosts within two, 40-38.

            Senior guard Mandy Reinhart (Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove) answered the 3 for Alvernia to start the second half and the Crusaders had a five point lead early in the second.  Immaculata again responded taking a 47-46 lead with nine of the next 12 points, but Rienhart nailed back-to-back 3s as the Crusaders tallied eight straight for the largest lead of the second half, a seven point cushion, 54-47 with 12:55 to play.

            Pawlowski scored four straight to cut the gap to three and Murray scored five straight in a 28-second span that gave Immaculata its second lead of the half.  Barnes and Pawlowski traded buckets during a two minute stretch with Pawlowski’s free throw at 6:21 knotting the score at 64-64.

            Reinhart canned her fourth 3 of the day on the next Alvernia possession, but the Crusaders managed just two free throws from Gholston over the final 5:58 in suffering their second conference loss of the season.

Immaculata 74, Alvernia 69