Box Score

LANGHORNE, Pa.- The Immaculata women's basketball team travelled to Cairn (2-15, 0-11 CSAC) looking for their fourth straight Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) victory, and the Mighty Macs (13-7, 10-1 CSAC) received a total team effort with 14 different players scoring en route to an 81-33 victory over the Highlanders.  With the victory, the Mighty Macs remain alone in second place with just five games remaining in the season.
 
Senior Sara Smith led the way with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and she pulled down four boards.  Senior Meghan Gallagher established a new career-high with 12 points (6-for-10 FG) and tied a career-best with eight rebounds, including six of them coming on the offensive end.  Senior Lindsay Cras had nine points, and senior Emily Bell tied her career-high with nine as well.  Freshman Theresa Walsh set a career-high with eight points on the night on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, and senior Brittany Merkle added eight as well.
 
Sophomore Reilly Larkin had a career-high six assists, a team-high, and also pulled down five boards in 11 minutes of work.
 
The Mighty Macs dominated on the glass with a 47-29 advantage while holding the Highlanders to 25.5% (14-for-55) shooting from the field and forcing 26 turnovers.
 
Immaculata never trailed in the game as they scored the first eight points of the game and raced out to a 21-3 lead less than nine minutes in.
 
Merkle got two lay-ups in the opening minutes before senior Adriana Sciascia and Smith converted buckets for the early 8-0 lead.  Cairn got their first bucket of the game at the 15:52 mark, but senior Mackie Fitzgerald drilled a three on the next possession to put IU up 11-2.  Smith and Gallagher each scored four points over the next four minutes before Cras' lay-up finished off the run with IU in front 21-3.
 
Cairn would score three straight to cut into the lead, but a 10-0 run would give the Mighty Macs their largest lead of the first half at 25 points.  Bell scored six of the next eight Immaculata points while Gallagher and junior Jacquelyn McClellan each scored to put Immaculata in front, 31-6.
 
Sophomore Tess Kieffer, senior Samantha Bonvetti, and Walsh would each score in the final minutes of the first half as Immaculata took a 37-14 advantage into the locker room.
 
To start the second half, Immaculata grew their lead up to 38 points at 56-18 with 13 minutes remaining in the contest.  Immaculata used a 19-4 run over the opening seven minutes of the second half to swell their lead to the largest of the game.  Fitzgerald opened the half with her second three of the game before Smith and Merkle combined to score the next 12 points for IU.  Senior Alison Zimny hit a pair of free throws and Cras finished off the run.
 
A bucket by Cras a few minutes later had the lead all the way up to 42 points at 63-21, and Gallagher's lay-up increased the lead to 68-23.  Walsh would score six of her points on the ensuing possession and a lay-up by freshman Gina Cocci finished off the 81-33 victory with the Mighty Macs holding their largest lead of the game.
 
Immaculata will now have five days off before travelling to Centenary on Monday evening at 6 p.m. in a make-up of this past Monday's postponed contest.  The Mighty Macs will be looking to equal their season long winning streak of five games.