Box Score
IMMACULATA, Pa. – Immaculata University's women's basketball team posted three players with double-doubles as the Mighty Macs outscored Gwynedd-Mercy 45-28 during the second half to defeat the visiting Griffins, 76-59, on Senior Day inside Alumnae Hall.
Leah Kuczynski scored 18 points and 12 rebounds coming off the bench, Bridget Welz added 14 points and 12 rebounds and Chelsea McTigue completed the trio with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Chrissy Esbensen also reached double figures with 17 points and recorded six assists and four steals.
Immaculata ends the regular season 15-9 overall and 10-6 in the CSAC while Gwynedd-Mercy falls to 16-8 overall and 13-3 in the league.
The Mighty Macs shot 51.7 percent from the field in the second half on their way to outscoring the Griffins 45-28 and breaking away from a 31-all tie at halftime.
Immaculata quickly jumped ahead to a double-digit lead (43-33) on a 12-2 run during the first four minutes of the second half. A three-pointer from the Griffins' Liza Leyes stopped the string of 10 straight points for the Mighty Macs, and cut Gwynedd-Mercy's deficit to seven, 43-36.
Immaculata regained its double-figure lead as Janine Mullin dropped in a jumper with 13:38 to play, 50-39, and the Mighty Macs would continue to lead by double figures until the 3:53 mark. The Mighty Macs pushed their advantage to as many as 15 three times during the stretch.
Gwynedd-Mercy's Kate Wisniewski sunk a three-pointer with 3:53 left to trim the margin to nine, 64-55, and the Griffins would cut the lead to seven (66-59) after back-to-back layups by Kristy McGrath and Erica Fulforth a minute later.
The Griffins then began to foul, but a perfect 8-for-8 effort by the Mighty Macs, led by Esbensen's 4 of 4, during the final 2:34 iced the contest for the 76-59 victory.
The first half was a series of runs for both squads. Gwynedd-Mercy began the game on a 6-0 run, but Immaculata responded with an 8-0 streak to lead 8-6 with 14:33 left in the half.
The Mighty Macs led by as many as four (16-12) at the 11:48 mark, but the Griffins had an 11-2 swing to give Gwynedd-Mercy a five-point edge (23-18) with 6:02 remaining. In all, the lead changed hands six times and there were five ties as the game was a stalemate at 31-all at the break.
Brittany Neill scored a team-high 13 points as she was the only scorer in double figures for Gwynedd-Mercy. Wisniewski netted nine points, and McGrath added 10. Stacey Judge pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
Gwynedd-Mercy finished the game shooting just 26.9 percent from the field (18-67) after going 10 of 27 (.370) from beyond the arc while Immaculata was 46.8 percent from the field (29-62).
Immaculata enters the CSAC Tournament as the No. 6 seed, traveling to third-seeded Marywood on Tuesday night, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
