Reading, Pa. (Nov. 30, 2015) – Gwynedd-Mercy University (4-1) got 23 points from Charlotte Kucowski in a 67-59 win over Alvernia University (3-2) Monday evening in non-conference women's basketball action at the Physical Education Center.
 
Alvernia got a career-high 24 points from junior Jenna Wolff who's previous best was 14 points scored in her first career game two seasons ago.
 
Alvernia cut a 17-point, second-half deficit down to six points, 62-56 on a Wolff layup with 4:49 to go.  The Griffins stopped the run with a second-chance bucket while Alvernia missed its next five shots from the floor and the Griffins held on for the win.
 
"It's all defense," said Alvernia head coach Sheila Cook after the game.  "That's all it is.  We really made a great run with out defense.  They came down and made an easy basket.  We need to be able to stop that, and go one possession at a time."
 
Gwynedd-Mercy ran off a stretch of 11 straight points early in the game to take a 15-5 lead.  Nicole Dombrowski started the run with back-to-back buckets and Bianca Adams capped it with a 3 from the elbow.
 
Alvernia answered the run with 3s from Chelsea Ebersole and Wolff on consecutive possessions to cut the gap to four points, 15-11, the count after the first quarter of play.
 
The Griffins opened the second quarter with four straight points to double their lead to eight, then after an exchange of 3s, the Griffins got two more from the arc from Kucowski and Adams for a 28-14 lead with 4:18 left in the quarter.
 
The Crusaders were able to pull back within nine points with 2:07 to go in the half, but went cold from the floor missing their final four shots.  GMU hit just once—a jumper from Kucowski—and took a 32-21 lead into the break.
 
Kucowski hit a 3 to open the third quarter for the Griffins and the guests kept the lead in double-digits midway through the fourth quarter when Ebersole hit a 3 and Kim Whelan turned a steal into a coast-to-coast 3-point play to cut the gap to eight points, 62-54 with 5:10 to go.
 
The Crusaders inched closer twice cutting the gap to six points, but got no closer the rest of the way.
 
Kucowski finished 9-of-19 from the floor including 5-of-10 from the arc for a team-high 23 points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds.  Wolff was the only player in double figures for the Crusaders.
 
Alvernia opens the conference schedule Wednesday at Lycoming.
 
Gwynedd-Mercy 67, Alvernia 59