Box Score
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Immaculata had a trio of scorers in double figures as the women's basketball team went on the road and defeated Cedar Crest College Thursday night, 75-64, in non-conference action.
Immaculata (12-8) was led by Rachel Denis' 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting from beyond the arc. Denis also added four steals and three assists. Kelly Brown finished with 14 points while Bridget Welz had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Leah Kuczynski led the Mighty Macs on the glass with 12 rebounds and added seven points. Chrissy Esbensen dished out a season-high 11 assists and swiped four steals.
The Mighty Macs quickly erased their nine-point halftime deficit just 6:31 into the second half. The Falcons led 42-33 at the intermission, and pushed their advantage to 44-33 after two made free throws 37 seconds into the frame. Welz started the run for the Mighty Macs with a three at the 19:11 mark and Kuczynski followed with layups on consecutive trips up the floor cutting the margin to 44-40 less than a minute later.
After Cedar Crest (11-9) got a three-pointer from Kelly Oakes to push its lead back to seven, 47-40, Denis hit the first of her four three-pointers with 15:17 to play, trimming the margin back to four. Welz and Oakes then traded jumpers for the two squads as the Falcons' lead remained 49-45. Denis found her stroke as she nailed two more treys on straight trips for the Mighty Macs, who took the lead, 51-49, with 13:39 left in the contest.
Immaculata pushed its lead to 10 (64-54) with 6:43 remaining, but an 8-2 run by Cedar Crest brought the Falcons within four (66-62) with 3:59 to play. However, a pair of foul shots by Erin McBride and a layup by Brown put the game out of reach for the Falcons, who only got a jumper from Keri Lasky during the final three minutes.
Cedar Crest had two players reach double-doubles, led by Oakes 21 points and 10 rebounds. Lizzy Sunderhaus collected the other with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Immaculata finished the evening 10-for-19 (.529) from three-point range, and shot 41.3 percentage from the field but 53.8 percent (14-26) during its comeback in the second half.
After going 16-for-32 (.500) from the field during the opening half, Cedar Crest connected on just 6 of 29 (.207) shots during the second frame to finish the night at 36.1 percent.
Immaculata will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 6, hosting Gwynedd-Mercy at Alumnae Hall at 2 p.m. as the Mighty Macs host their annual Pink Zone game, with all proceeds from Saturday benefiting the Kay Yow/WBCA Breast Cancer Fund.
