CSAC CHAMPIONSHIP VIDEO PREVIEW

IMMACULATA, Pa.- For the second consecutive season, the second-seeded Immaculata women's basketball team is headed to the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship game where they will be facing a familiar foe in top-seeded Cabrini (23-3) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. at the Nerney Field House in Radnor, Pa.  The winner of tomorrow night's game will receive the CSAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Mighty Macs (17-9) and the Cavaliers faced off in the 2014 title game on March 1^st of last year and the Cavaliers defeated IU by a score of 88-59.
 
This season, the Mighty Macs qualified for the CSAC Championship game after a 74-46 wire-to-wire victory over No. 3 Gwynedd Mercy on Wednesday night at Alumnae Hall.  IU was hosting the first semifinal in team history after grabbing the No. 2 seed and receiving a bye to the semifinals, and they took advantage in front of a full house at Alumnae Hall.  Senior Sara Smith tied a career-high with 28 points, including 20 in the second half, to go along with eight rebounds, and senior Brittany Merkle notched her eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 boards.  Seniors Mackie Fitzgerald (4 assists, 6 rebounds) and Alison Zimny (5 rebounds) each had seven points, and senior Adriana Sciascia chipped in with five points and eight boards.
 
Immaculata started the game on fire as they took a 14-0 lead out of the gates, but the Griffins battled back and made it a six-point game at the half with IU in front, 29-23.  However, the Macs started the second half on a 22-7 run, fueled primarily by Smith that swelled the lead to 21 points at 51-30 midway through the second half.  The Mighty Macs had runs of 9-0 and 10-0 in the opening ten minutes of the period to carry them back to the CSAC Championship.
 
Cabrini comes in as the top seed in the CSAC and ranked 21^st in the nation after their 90-76 CSAC Semifinal win over No. 5 Keystone on Wednesday evening, their 17^th in a row.  In the game, the Cavaliers had CSAC Player of the Year Amber Keys get her 13^th double-double of the season with 28 points and 12 rebounds.  Kristina Startare added 18 points and Taylor Holmes had 12.  The Cavaliers scored 48 points in the paint and grabbed 24 offensive rebounds to control the contest.  Cabrini outscored Keystone 46-32 in the first half and never looked back in the win.
 
The Mighty Macs and Cavaliers are very familiar with each other as they have played each other twice this season already and Cabrini has come out on top both times.  On January 22^nd, IU travelled to Cabrini and the Cavaliers led wire-to-wire in a 71-40 defeat for the Macs.  Cabrini used a 19-5 run in the first half to go up 21-7, and Immaculata would never get closer than 12 the rest of the way.  Merkle had 14 points and five boards in the loss.  For Cabrini, Keys had 17 points and 12 boards and fellow First Team All-CSAC member Megan Decker had 11 points and 10 boards.  The Mighty Macs shot just 26.7% (16-for-60) from the field while getting outrebounded, 60-33.
 
In the rematch on February 14^th, Cabrini barely edged the Mighty Macs, 65-64, as Immaculata was unable to convert on their final two possessions.  Sciascia had 18 points for IU, Smith had 13 points and eight boards, and senior Lindsay Cras had 10 points off the bench.  The Mighty Macs led 29-27 at the half, but Cabrini opened the second half on a 14-0 run to take a 12-point lead.  The Macs fought back and used a 10-1 run with under four minutes to go to trim the deficit to one point at 61-60 behind a pair of corner threes by Cras.  The Cavaliers would take a 65-64 lead, and the Mighty Macs had the ball with 12 seconds, but Smith's lay-up came up just short to seal the Cavalier win.  Amber Keys had 33 points and 13 boards to lead Cabrini, who again had a big advantage on the boards, 51-34.
 
Saturday night's championship affair will be a matchup of two of the top defenses in the conference.  Cabrini has the top defense in the CSAC giving up 49.7 points per game (5^th in the nation), and the Mighty Macs have the second best defense surrendering 54.1 points per game.  The Cavaliers have the top field goal defense in the conference at 34.4% and the Mighty Macs have the fourth best in the CSAC at 35.9% after holding Gwynedd Mercy to 24.2% shooting on Wednesday night.  The Mighty Macs enter with the best three-point field goal defense in the CSAC and fourth best in the nation at 21.5%.
 
Offensively, Cabrini averages 71.0 points per game, good for second in the CSAC, and Immaculata averages 68.7, which places them fifth.  The Mighty Macs rely on their free throw shooting at 73.1% as a team, best in the CSAC, and the Cavaliers are best in the conference at rebounding, pulling down 46.3 boards per game.
 
Individually, Sara Smith earned First Team All-CSAC this season and leads the team with 14.6 points per game to go along with 6.2 boards.  Brittany Merkle was named Second Team All-CSAC, averaging 10.5 points and 7.7 boards this season, while Adriana Sciascia averages 10.8 points per game, second best on the team.  Mackie Fitzgerald (6.8 ppg) leads the team with 2.7 assists per game and Lindsay Cras leads the Mighty Macs with 6.5 points per game off the bench.  Alison Zimny (5.5 ppg), Reilly Larkin (5.2 ppg), and Meghan Gallagher (5.0 ppg) will all play critical roles as well in the championship.
 
For Cabrini, Amber Keys leads the team in scoring at 17.5 per game and rebounding at 9.9 per contest.  Megan Decker averages 9.8 points per game and Dana Peterson adds 8.2 per contest, and a team-best 3.2 assists per game, to lead the Cavalier attack.  Kristina Startare (7.3 ppg), Tayler Holmes (6.7 ppg), Meghan Martin (5.7 ppg), and Renee Oliver (3.6 ppg) will also factor in on Saturday night. 
 
The Mighty Macs will be seeking their first CSAC Championship in team history while the Cavaliers will be looking to grab their third straight.
 
We will have a live broadcast of the game which you can find here, and if you can't make it out or watch, you can follow the game on Live Stats.