ASTON, Pa.- The Immaculata women's basketball travelled to Neumann (11-9, 4-4) on Wednesday looking to avenge an early season loss, and the Mighty Macs (6-15, 3-5) played great for much of the game, leading for a majority of the game, but the Knights outscored the Macs 20-12 in the final quarter, and IU was unable to come back in a 74-69 defeat.
 
The Macs were led by sophomore Theresa Kearney with 17 points.  IU is now 3-5 in the Atlantic East with four games remaining in the regular season.  They can clinch a conference postseason berth as early as this weekend.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The teams traded buckets early and with the game tied at 5-5, IU went on an 8-2 spurt with three points from Kearney and sophomore Shannon Kelly, and a jumper by junior Molly Gallagher
-The Mighty Macs finished off the quarter with a 17-11 advantage
-Holding a 20-13 lead with 8:22 to go before halftime, the Macs went on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game.  Kearney hit four consecutive free throws, and sophomore Brielle Rigo knocked down two as well to put IU up 28-13 midway through the second quarter
-On two occasions, the lead got down to 11 points, but both times the Macs got a three pointer, one by Rigo and one from freshman Meghan Ricker, and the Macs took a 40-28 advantage into the locker room
-The Neumann offense came to life midway through the third quarter as they were able to get the Mighty Mac lead into single digits with a run
-IU led 57-50 with 1:09 to go, and the Neumann scored the final four points to cut the IU advantage to three points heading into the fourth
-Neumann briefly took their first lead since the first quarter at 60-59, but a bucket by sophomore Natalie Ayoub put IU back on top with six minutes to go
-The game would be tied on three more occasions at 61-61, 63-63, and 65-65.  With the score knotted at 65 with 3:56 to go, Neumann went on a decisive 5-0 spurt that Kearney broke with a layup with 1:28 to go to cut the Neumann lead to 70-67
-After playing good defense, the Macs would get two chances to tie it up or trim the lead, but were unable to do so and the Knights closed the game at the free throw line
 
TEAM COMPARISON
-The Macs were very efficient shooting the ball at 25-for-55 (45.5%) while the Knights were 21-for-55 (38.2%)
-Each team took 14 three point attempts and the Macs hit five while Neumann knocked down six
-Neumann did a lot of their damage at the free throw line as they went 26-for-31 (83.9%) and the Macs were 14-for-18 (77.8%)
-The Macs turned it over 16 times and Neumann did so 12 times
-IU led the game for nearly 31 minutes, but were unable to hold off the fourth quarter rally by the Knights
 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
-Points: Kearney 17, Rigo 11, Kohutka 9, Ballinger 9
-Assists: Kearney 2, Rigo 2, Ballinger 2, Gallagher 2, Kohutka 2
-Rebounds: Kearney 7, Rigo 7, Ayoub 5
 
UP NEXT
The Mighty Macs will make their first ever conference trip to Marymount for a 1 p.m. tip off.