RADNOR, Pa.- Morgan Falcone drilled a clutch three with 17 seconds left to give Immaculata a 57-55 lead, which the Immaculata women's basketball team would never relinquish en route to the 61-58 comeback victory over Cabrini on Saturday afternoon. This is the teams first victory over the Cavaliers inside Nerney Field House since the 2012 when the Macs toppled the Cavaliers by a final of 53-40 in Radnor. This victory also makes Immaculata the fourth seed in the upcoming Atlantic East Tournament beginning on Monday evening inside Alumnae Hall.
"At practice this week we put an emphasis on our offensive execution and our ability to get and capitalize on defensive stops," opened head coach Chrissy Rhine. "The girls did everything I asked of them today with playing tenacious defense while also remaining patient on offense and doing a great job of executing on both ends of the floor. The shooting down the stretch from Morgan, Meg, and Theresa (Falcone, Ricker, and Kearney) was huge as that allowed us to seal the deal and earn the victory. I could not be more proud of Morgan as she made her first start today and really played a great game throughout the day including the great shot as the end" concluded Rhine.
The clutch three-pointer was three of 13 points on the afternoon for Falcone while
Theresa Kearney led the way in scoring with 16 points in the victory.
Brielle Rigo was exceptional as well this afternoon registering another double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three steals and a block in the victory.
In the first quarter of play, Immaculata and Cabrini traded baskets before a late run by the Cavaliers gave the hosts their biggest lead of the afternoon of nine points with 16 seconds to play in the opening quarter. In the second period of play, the teams traded baskets for much of the quarter before a late 8-2 run by the Macs to close out the half sent the game to the break with the Macs trailing by just three (27-24).
To open the second half, the first made field goal of the half did not come until two minutes into the third when
Theresa Kearney converted a layup to cut the deficit to 28-26, which spurred a quick 5-0 Cabrini run to claim a 33-26 lead with seven minutes to play in the stanza. The teams traded baskets from this point forward as the Macs and Cavs found themselves tied at 42-42 late in the quarter before a made free throw from Kate King edged the hosts back out in front heading to the fourth.
In the fourth and final quarter of play, Cabrini extended its lead back to as many as nine points with five minutes to play before Immaculata began to mount its final comeback. Over the final four minutes of the contest, Immaculata held the Cavaliers to just three points while scoring 15 points of its own capped off by a clutch three-pointer from Falcone and a pair of perfect visits to the charity stripe from
Meghan Ricker and Kearney to seal the victory in the closing seconds of regulation.
As a team, Immaculata shot 40.8 % from the field and 30.8 % from deep while also going a perfect 17-of-17 from the line in the upset victory. Additionally, Immaculata also outrebounded its hosts 39-30 thanks in large part to the 14-rebound effort from Rigo.
Ashley Tutzauer was impressive this afternoon turning in a game-high 21 points while Meghan Matthews added 11 for Cabrini in the regular-season ending setback on Saturday afternoon for the Cavaliers.
Immaculata will now turn its attention to a Marywood squad that it split with in the regular season in the Atlantic East Quarterfinals on Monday evening. This game will be played inside Alumnae Hall at a start time that is yet to be announced.
