Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Mighty Mac women's basketball team (8-15, 8-6 CSAC) hosted first place Marywood on Saturday afternoon at Alumnae Hall, and the Mighty Macs trailed for much of the game before running out of time in a 57-51 loss to the Pacers (17-6, 13-1 CSAC).  The Mighty Macs are now locked into the sixth and final playoff spot in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) postseason picture with two games remaining on their schedule.
 
Senior Tamyra Laws did much of the heavy lifting for the Mighty Macs on offense as she scored 26 points and pulled down 14 boards, while also getting four steals and two blocks.  Junior Gina Cocci hit three triples on the day for nine points while dishing out a team-high five assists, and senior Theresa Walsh had six points with a career-high seven steals.
 
Sophomore Amber Ballinger chipped in with five points, nine boards, and four assists, while freshman Annie Kohutka had four points, four rebounds, and two steals.
 
The Mighty Macs turned the ball over just 10 times, but struggled from the field, knocking down just 17 of their 63 attempts (27.0%).  Their defense kept them in the game as they forced 20 turnovers from the Pacers and held them to 3-of-11 from three point range.
 
The first quarter was tight early as the Macs took their first lead on a Ballinger three-pointer, which turned out to be their only one of the first half.  The Macs had their lead up to three at 9-6 after Walsh knocked down a jumper from the corner, and they continued to lead at 10-8 after a free throw by Tess Kieffer, but IU then went cold from the field and did not score for the rest of the period.  Marywood took a 15-10 lead into the second quarter after closing out the first on a 7-0 run.
 
The Pacers run did not stop into the second quarter as they started on an 8-0 run to cap a 15-0 run total and take a 23-10 lead.  The Macs got back on the board with 4:12 to go before the half on two free throws by Ballinger and Laws followed that with a lay-up to cut into the deficit.  Marywood grew the lead to 14 points with 2:17 to go before half, but a Laws free throw cut it to 30-17 going to the locker room.
 
In the third quarter, Marywood continued to lead, but the Macs never let the deficit get larger than 14 points, and they got as close as 10 on a jumper by Laws with 5:35 to go.  The teams split the quarter 11-11 and IU continued to trail 41-28 heading to the fourth.
 
IU kept pushing to try to get back into the game, cutting it to nine points on four different occasions in the fourth quarter, but Marywood would push the edge back to double digits each time.  The Macs had one final push in them, trailing 55-45, Cocci hit a three to make it 55-48, and following a free throw by Marywood, Cocci hit another three to trim the deficit to five with 17 seconds to go.
 
However, IU would not get any closer in the six point loss.
 
On Wednesday, the Mighty Macs will host Rosemont at 6 p.m. on Play4Kay and Senior Night.