Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Immaculata University women's basketball was able to hold off Wilkes University, 63-55, to advance to Saturday's championship game at the Moravian Winter Classic at Johnston Hall in Bethlehem, Pa.
 
Lindsay Cras paced the Mighty Macs (7-2) for the first time this season with 13 points while adding four rebounds and two steals. Mackie Fitzgerald finished with 11 points, after knocking down three 3-point field goals and adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Alison Zimny chipped in nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Adriana Sciascia also finished with nine points. Brittany Merkle led Immaculata on the glass with 10 rebounds while finishing with eight points, while Sara Smith registered eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
Wilkes' (1-7) Chelsea Brown gave the Lady Colonels their only two leads of the contest during the opening five minutes of the game. Wilkes scored the first basket, and after Immaculata took a 5-2 lead, scored six straight points for an 8-5 edge with 15:47 remaining in the first half.
 
Immaculata's Marisa Kinsey then hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 8-all, and the Mighty Macs never trailed again the rest of the way. The Mighty Macs got ahead by as many as 11 points (29-18) during the opening half, before the Lady Colonels made it a 29-22 game at halftime.
 
The Mighty Macs came out in the second half scoring nine consecutive points to run their lead to 16 (38-22) during the first four minutes. Immaculata took its largest lead (52-35) with 9:19 to play in the contest and led by 17 twice more with the last coming with 7:30 left in the contest.
 
Wilkes trimmed Immaculata's lead to single-digits (60-51) for the first time since the 18:09 mark of the second half with 1:38 remaining in the game. The Lady Colonels were able to get within six (61-55) with 22 ticks left, but Sciascia iced the win for the Mighty Macs with two free throws with 17 seconds to play.
 
Immaculata will play the winner of the Moravian-John Jay contest in the Moravian Winter Classic championship game tomorrow at 3 p.m.