BOX SCORE

Gwynedd-Valley, Pa. (Jan. 29, 2007) – Alvernia cut a 15-point halftime deficit down to 10 points, 54-44, with 15:59 to play, but Gwynedd-Mercy ran off a 15-2 spurt over a six minute stretch and cruised to an 87-58 win Monday night in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference women’s basketball action at the Griffin Complex.

            Alvernia got a team-high 20 points from senior guard Lauren Fortna (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon Catholic), but no one else reached double figures for the Crusaders (11-7, 9-2 PAC) who had a modest three game win streak come to an end.

            The Crusaders were 0-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half as the host Griffins (17-2, 11-0 PAC) opened up a 44-29 lead after 20 minutes of play.  Alvernia forged a pair of early ties and had the first-half deficit down to two points, 20-18, before an 11-1 Griffin run pushed the gap to a dozen.  GMC senior Ashley Vandiver (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) scored six points for the Griffins during the stretch.

            Alvernia chipped the lead down to seven points with 6:41 on the first half clock, but the Griffins expanded a nine point lead to 15 at the break scoring eight of the final 10 points of the half.  Senior Jackie Dougherty (Roslyn, PA/Abington), who reached 1,000 career points on a first-half free throw, scored the final four points of the half.

            A Dougherty layup two minutes into the second half expanded the lead to 18 and a minute later Fortna hit a 3 to spark an 8-0 Alvernia run that produced the 10-point spread at 15:59.

            Alvernia will travel to Cabrini College for a women’s and men’s doubleheader on Thursday.

Gwynedd-Mercy 87, Alvernia 58