Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- For the second consecutive season, the Immaculata women's basketball team is headed back to the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) postseason after a wire-to-wire clinching victory over visiting Gwynedd Mercy, 75-43, on Play4Kay Night at Alumnae Hall.  With the win, the Mighty Macs (14-7, 11-1 CSAC) now have a two-game lead for a bye to the CSAC Semifinals, and have a big game with first-place Cabrini this coming Saturday.
 
Senior Brittany Merkle had her sixth double-double of the season and 12^th of her career with 19 points and 11 boards to lead IU in both categories.  Senior Adriana Sciascia added 16 points and senior Sara Smith had 11.  Senior Mackie Fitzgerald filled up the stat sheet with six points, a career-high nine assists, 10 rebounds, which tied a career-high and three steals.
 
Immaculata's defense was stifling all night long as they held Gwynedd Mercy to just 13 made field goals on 55 attempts for 23.6% shooting.  They out rebounded the Griffins, 49-36, and forced 18 turnovers.
 
From the tip, the Mighty Macs took the lead on a Merkle lay-up, and the Griffins tied it on a bucket a minute later, but that would be the last time Gwynedd Mercy would be tied the rest of the way.  Immaculata went on a 15-5 spurt to run their lead up to 17-7 less than nine minutes into the game.  Merkle scored six of the points with Smith chipping in four and Sciascia knocking down IU's first three pointer of the game.  Senior Meghan Gallagher (6 points) converted a lay-up on one of Fitzgerald's assists on the evening to put IU up double figures.
 
Gwynedd fought back to cut the Immaculata lead down to five at 19-14 with seven minutes to go, and later at 27-22 with 1:32 to go, but a 5-0 spurt by the Mighty Macs to close out the half sent Immaculata to the locker room with a 32-22 lead.  Fitzgerald and Sciascia hit back-to-back jumpers before senior Lindsay Cras (6 points) hit a free throw with two seconds to go to put Immaculata ahead by double figures again.
 
Holding a 10-point lead coming out of the locker room, the Mighty Macs never allowed the Griffins to get any closer as they started the second half with a 28-6 run over the first 10:28.  Sciascia hit two free throws, followed by lay-ups from Merkle and Fitzgerald before Gwynedd Mercy scored their first bucket of the half.  Sciascia, Smith, and Merkle would convert lay-ups in the ensuing possessions with a three-pointer from senior Alison Zimny (7 second-half points) to extend their advantage to 23 points at 47-24 with 14 minutes to go in the game.
 
Gwynedd would get a bucket to slow the run, but Merkle scored again before a triple by Smith had Immaculata in front 52-26.  Following two Griffin free throws, Cras, Zimny, Smith, and Gallagher all scored on four consecutive possessions to push the IU lead to its largest of the game at 60-28 with 9:32 left.
 
Immaculata continued to keep their lead around 30 points the rest of the way with it growing as large as 38 on a three-pointer by sophomore Reilly Larkin to make the score 75-37 with 2:22 to go.  From there, the Mighty Macs finished off the 75-43 victory.
 
Immaculata will now shift their attention to first-place Cabrini on Saturday afternoon when they host the Cavaliers in a matchup of the top two teams in the CSAC at 1 p.m.
 
NOTES: Fitzgerald went over the 200-assist mark in her career and is now at 207 … She also has more than 400 points and 200 rebounds … Merkle eclipsed the 600-point mark and now has 605 in her career.