Box Score
IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata University women's basketball team opened their 2016-17 season on Tuesday night against visiting DeSales to kick off an Alumnae Hall doubleheader, and after a closely played first half, the Macs fell behind and were unable to make up the deficit in an 84-59 loss. Senior
Tamyra Laws had a career-high 31 points on 13-of-24 shooting and started her season with a double-double as she added 13 rebounds.
Junior
Gina Cocci tallied 12 points, while senior
Theresa Walsh had four points and a team-high five assists and three blocks. Freshman
Annie Kohutka had seven rebounds and three assists in her collegiate debut.
The Macs shot 20-for-51 (39.2%) from the field and 15-for-20 (75%) from the line.
After a tight first half that DeSales led 40-32, the Bulldogs put the game away by outscoring the Macs 31-8 in the third quarter.
The Macs took the first lead of the game on their first possession as Walsh converted a pass from Kohutka, but DeSales ripped off the next five points to take a 7-2 lead. The Macs would trim the deficit back to one at 7-6 after four straight from Laws, but DeSales responded and would see their lead grow to seven at 19-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs got the first bucket of the second quarter, but Laws then took over as she scored eight straight points in a two-minute span to pull within one. She knocked down a jumper then converted back-to-back traditional three-point plays to cut the DeSales lead to just one point. The Bulldogs scored the next six to swell their lead to seven, but Laws went back at it with five straight points to make it 27-25 as she had now scored 13 straight Immaculata points.
DeSales would see their lead grow as large as 10 at 40-30, but the Macs got it down to 40-32 at the break with two free throws by senior
Tess Kieffer (8 points, 8-8 FT).
The Macs struggled in the third quarter, trailing 55-39 midway through, before the Bulldogs scored 16 straight to put the game away and take a commanding 71-40 lead heading to the fourth.
IU outscored DeSales 19-13 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough in an 84-59 loss.
The Macs will now travel to the Scotty Wood Tournament this weekend starting on Friday at Muhlenberg at 6 p.m.
