BOX SCORE

Reading, PA (Feb. 13, 2006) – Senior guard Mandy Reinhart (Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove) scored a game-high 19 points and reached 1,000 career points as Alvernia College defeated Marywood University, 85-31 Monday evening in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at the Physical Education Center.

            Reinhart scored 17 points in the first nine minutes of the second half and went over 1,000 points on a 3-pointer from the left corner with 11:42 left in the game.  Reinhart is the third Crusader in as many seasons to reach the 1,000 point plateau.  She joins former teammates Jen Sawyer (’04) and Erin McIntyre (’05) as recent additions to the milestone club.

            Alvernia (12-12, 11-5 PAC) used solid shooting and fierce defense to handle the Pacers (6-19, 3-13 PAC) on Monday.  The visitors shot just 2-of-16 from the field in the first half as Alvernia built a 38-12 lead at the break.  Marywood got 3s at 13:37 and 11:23, and its only other scoring came on a 6-for-11 effort from the free throw line.

            Trailing 6-4 with just over six minutes gone Alvernia outscored Marywood 34-4 over an 11-minute stretch to take a 38-10 lead with 2:08 left in the half.  Marywood closed the first half scoring with a pair of free throws at the 1:54 mark.  In addition to forcing a 13 percent shooting effort, Alvernia also forced 16 of Marywood’s 29 total turnovers in the first half.

            The Pacers opened the second half with a bucket from Caity Hadzimichalis (Phillipsburg, NJ/Belvidere) and Alvernia freshman Michelle Lutzkanin (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) answered with one of her six 3s.  Reinhart hit a free throw on the Crusaders’ next possession and followed with 17 of Alvernia’s next 20 points during a 19-5 run that left the hosts up 61-19 with 11:02 to play.

            Lutzkanin stole the ball on the defensive end as the clock ticked under 12:00, and hit Reinhart on the brake.  Reinhart’s drive to the bucket was cut off and she hit Higgs before curling to the corner where she nailed the second of three straight 3s to surpass 1,000 points.

            Alvernia will wrap up the regular season with a non-conference game at Swarthmore on Thursday.

Alvernia 85, Marywood 31