Box Score
Photo Gallery
ASTON, Pa. – Immaculata University's women's basketball season came to a conclusion on Saturday afternoon in the Colonial States Athletic Conference Tournament championship game. The third-seeded Mighty Macs fell to top-seed Neumann University, 66-60.
Chrissy Esbensen led Immaculata with 16 points while Chelsea McTigue had 14 points and Rachel Denis added 10 points. Bridget Welz had a team-high eight rebounds, seven points and five assists. Kelly Brown also chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
Immaculata played a strong second half, shooting 48.4 percent on 15 of 31 from the field to outscore Neumann, 37-35. The Mighty Macs overcame an eight-point halftime deficit (31-23) to take a four-point advantage during the final four minutes of the contest.
Both squads started the game out slow with Neumann scoring the opening basketball at the 18:07 mark. The two teams traded baskets in the early going, and Immaculata held the slight lead (7-6) after Denis hit a three-pointer with 14:40 remaining in the first half.
The Knights went on a 15-3 run after the Mighty Macs took the edge as Neumann retook the lead, 21-10, with 8:17 to play in the first half. Neumann held its largest lead of the first half, 26-14, with 3:43 left in the opening stanza.
Following the Knights getting ahead by 12 points, the Mighty Macs scored seven straight points, cutting Neumann's lead to 26-21 with 1:40 left before halftime. Neumann eventually took a 31-23 lead into the intermission.
Neumann's Bethany Humenik sunk a three at the 17:28 mark of the second half to extend the Knights lead to nine (34-25). The Knights was advantage short-lived however as the Mighty Macs went on an 18-7 spurt fueled by five points from Brown to retake the lead, 43-41. It was Immaculata's first lead since the14:40 mark of the first half.
The final 10 minutes of the contest was a see-saw battle that saw five ties and five lead changes. Denis hit a jumper with 4:35 left that lifted Immaculata ahead 52-50, and Esbensen and Welz each had three-point plays to keep the Mighty Macs out in front.
Katie Young's layup for Neumann with 2:10 remaining in the contest tied the score at 58-all, but Welz went in for a fast break-layup with 1:36 left to give Immaculata back the edgte, 60-58.
Young again knotted the score for the Knights at 60-60 with just 1:19 remaining, and Neumann closed the contest with six points during the final 54.1 seconds.
Neumann's Young led all scorers with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Krista DiRomualdo added 15 points in the winning effort for the Knights.
Neumann advances to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second straight season and will find out its first round opponent on Monday afternoon.
