BOX SCORE

Reading, PA (Feb. 6, 2006) – Senior guard Mandy Reinhart (Pine Grove, PA/Pine Grove) scored 24 of her game and career-high 28 points before halftime as Alvernia College cruised to an 88-57 win over Neumann College Monday evening in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at the Physical Education Center.

            Reinhart nailed 3-of-6 from the 3-point arc and a perfect 5-for-5 inside the arc in the first half.  She also threw in a 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.  Junior guard Lauren Fortna (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon Catholic) scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half as Alvernia (11-11, 9-5 PAC) raced out to a 47-19 lead at the break.  The Knights (9-12, 7-5 PAC) got a team-high 20 points from senior Nellie Mixon (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic).

            Reinhart tallied 15 points during a 29-4 first half run as the hosts pushed a 12-11 edge into a 41-15 bulge with 3:22 left in the opening half.  Her final layup on the fast break 13 seconds before the half gave the Crusaders a 28 point lead at the break, 47-19.  The second half play was fairly even with the spread staying between 25 and 34 points for the remainder of the game.

            Mixon opened the scoring for the Knights with a 3 and Fortna’s 3 at 15:24 was the only lead change of the game.  The early lead for the Crusaders grew to five points when Rienhart’s first 3 of the night capped an 8-2 run for the hosts.

            Mixon’s layup two minutes later ended a string of four straight that pulled Neumann within one at 12-11, but Reinhart and Fortna canned back-to-back 3s as part of a 51 percent first-half shooting effort and the Crusaders were off and running.

            Reinhart set a new career high in the second straight game.  She tallied 27 in Alvernia’s 75-61 win at Cedar Crest on Saturday.  Amidst her torrid scoring, the 5-2 senior also managed to hand out a game-high six assists as the Crusaders topped 20 helpers for the third time this season with 21.

            Alvernia will host Gwynedd-Mercy College on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.  The Griffins enter Wednesday’s game as the only remaining undefeated team in conference play.

Alvernia 88, Neumann 57