BOX SCORE

Gwynedd Valley, Pa. (Feb. 7, 2008) – There is no greater rivalry in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Basketball than the Alvernia College Crusaders and the Gwynedd-Mercy College Griffins. Between the two of them they hold 10 of 15 conference championships and every one of the last eight.

Thursday evening in their final regular-season, conference meeting Alvernia head coach Kevin Calabria put an indelible mark on the series earning his 350th overall win and his 200th PAC win with an 83-80 decision at the Griffin Complex.

Freshman guard Kelli McIntyre (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain), whose older sister Erin played for three of Calabria's five PAC Champions, led the way with a game-high 23 points shooting 8-for-17 from the floor. Alvernia (9-12, 8-4 PAC) enjoyed its best shooting night in the last eight games, hitting 52 percent of its shots, and ran its current win streak to four.

Alvernia sophomore Joanna Graber (Manalapan, N.J./Notre Dame) scored the first bucket of the night and the Crusaders led nearly wire-to-wire. The Griffins (16-5, 11-1) took their only lead of the first half on a Lauren Rosar (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) layup at the 11:56 mark. Alvernia junior Allee Barnes (Blooming Glen, Pa./Pennridge) erased it with her only 3 of the night and McIntyre pushed the Crusaders lead to four, 20-16.

After a GMC triple, junior Ana Nieves (Reading, Pa./Greater New Bedford) scored four of her career-high 16 during an 8-2 Alvernia run that put the guests up seven, 28-21. Gwynedd-Mercy trimmed the lead to four points on three occasions, but Alvernia continued its inspired shooting to keep pace and freshman Lil Snyder's (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) 3 at 3:11 rebuilt the seven-point gap.

McIntyre strung together four straight points late in the half to give Alvernia its largest lead, 44-35, with 16 seconds on the clock, but the Griffins scored on their final possession to enter the halftime break starring at that familiar seven-point deficit.

GMC came out of the break with another 3, one of six on the night, and pieced together a 12-5 run to knot the score at 49-all with 16:41 to play. Alvernia freshman August Reichardt (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) accounted for the next four points as the Crusaders refused to surrender the lead, and Nieves pushed it to five with a layup at 14:44.

GMC senior Karen Tierney (Blue Bell, Pa./Kennedy-Kenrick) scored on a layup of her own on the next possession and the Griffins put together a 9-2 run to take just their second lead of the night, 59-57. Snyder, who has responded well to her recent increase in playing time, scored six straight points to push the Crusaders ahead by four, 63-59 with 11½ minutes to go.

Alvernia junior Michelle Lutzkanin (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) knocked down both of her 3s over the next three minutes to keep the Griffins at bay, but four straight points cut the gap to a single point, 71-70, with 7:24 to play.

McIntyre answered that bucket and added a 3-point play after the next to put Alvernia up four, 76-72. Tierney cut that lead in half before Snyder stepped up to hit her second 3 of the night for a five points lead, 79-74.

GMC hit four free throws over the next two minutes to pull within four and set up a classic finish. Clinging to a one point lead, Alvernia turned the ball over on the inbound play, but senior Jill Rosolie (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) took it right back and found McIntyre who was fouled. The freshman hit both for a three-point lead, but GMC pounded the offensive glass on its next possession and Becky Strohecker (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead back to one.

After a timeout, Alvernia set up to inbound under the GMC basket. McIntyre took the pass and a few dribbles toward the corner before finding Snyder on a long outlet, and the freshman streaked to the hoop laying in the final bucket to give Calabria and the Crusaders the 83-80 win.

The Crusaders improve to 13-18 all time against the Griffins under Calabria, the only coach in Alvernia history. Thursday's win ended a five-game losing skid against GMC and is the first regular season conference loss for the Griffins since a loss to Wesley in February of 2005, a span of 43 games. Alvernia last defeated Gwynedd-Mercy 81-60 in the 2005 PAC Final.

This is the final regular season between Alvernia and Gwynedd-Mercy with the Crusaders making the jump to the MAC Freedom Conference next fall. Both schools were charter members of the PAC in 1992. Alvernia won women's basketball titles in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2004, and 2005. The Griffins took home the trophy in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2007.

Alvernia will travel to the College of Notre Dame on Saturday for a 1:00 match-up with the Gators.

Alvernia 83, Gwynedd-Mercy 80