Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- After nearly completing a huge fourth quarter comeback on Wednesday night against Neumann, the Mighty Macs (4-14, 4-5 CSAC) found themselves tied at 44-44 at the start of the fourth quarter against Notre Dame (6-12, 2-8 CSAC) on Saturday afternoon at Alumnae Hall, and this time they dug deep to pull away from the Gators for a 64-54 Colonial States Athletic Conference victory.
 
The Mighty Macs outscored Notre Dame, 20-10, in the final period to seal the victory.
 
Junior Tamyra Laws had her best game as a Mighty Mac, registering a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line.  Senior Reilly Larkin continued her strong season with 21 points and a team-best three assists.  The Macs also got great contributions from freshman Dia Veneziano with eight points and nine boards, and sophomore Theresa Walsh with nine points and nine boards.
 
The Mighty Macs pulled down 50 rebounds to just 40 for the Gators, and held Notre Dame to 27.6% (16-for-58) shooting from the field.
 
Early on, the Mighty Macs played well, racing out to a 10-4 lead following a layup by Laws, and they would take a 15-13 lead into the second quarter following two more free throws from Laws to break a 13-13 tie.
 
With the score tied 18-18, Notre Dame started to take over the second quarter as the Macs got into foul trouble, sending the Gators to the line 22 times in the opening half.  The Notre Dame lead got as large as 10 at 32-22 with 2:17 to go in the first half before the Macs ripped off a pivotal 7-0 run to make it a three point game at the half.  Laws scored four points in the run, and Walsh took care of the other three to make it 32-29 at the break.
 
In the third, the Gators continued to hold the lead at 41-40 late in the period before Larkin gave the Macs their first lead since early in the second quarter.  Notre Dame would fight to send the game to the fourth tied at 44-44.
 
Both teams struggled offensively to start the fourth, but the Macs eventually took control of the game by scoring the first six points over the opening five minutes, and Notre Dame never got closer than four the rest of the way.  Veneziano was big in getting IU the lead as she knocked down a pair of free throws and converted a driving layup from the left side around a Laws bucket to make it 50-44.
 
Notre Dame twice got it down to four points, but the Macs went on a 7-0 to put the game out of reach.  Leading 52-48, Larkin drilled a huge three before a pair of layups by Laws and Larkin made it 59-48 with 1:53 to go.  The Macs ran out the clock on the 64-54 win that kept Immaculata one and a half games out of the sixth and final playoff spot, behind Rosemont and Centenary.
 
IU will be playing their third straight home game on Monday night as they host Gwynedd Mercy at 6 p.m.