IMMACULATA, Pa. – The Immaculata women's basketball team solidified their standing in the Atlantic East Conference as they defeated Neumann 52-37 Saturday afternoon. The Mighty Macs now stand with a 6-3 conference record, currently sitting in the second seed behind Marymount.
Neumann broke the ice in the first minute before a nearly five-minute stretch of scoreless basketball began. Immaculata scored on a jump-shot from
Erin Kelly to tie the game at 2-2 halfway through the first quarter. Over the next two minutes, the two teams went back-and-forth with the score standing at 6-6 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. The final three minutes belonged to Immaculata, scoring seven points to Neumann's two, claiming a 13-8 lead.
The Knights narrowed the gap quickly in the second quarter as the score stood at 13-12 three minutes into the quarter. The Macs then jumped on an 8-0 rally to regain their lead before the Knights went on a 6-0 rally of their own. The final two minutes of the quarter, however, belonged to the Mighty Macs as the Macs went on a 7-0 run to claim a 28-18 lead going into the half.
Tessa Liberatoscioli and
Theresa Kearney led the Macs in scoring on the half with five points each while Kearney and
Kaitlyn Racobaldo led the Macs with five rebounds on the half.
Abigail Lentowski led the Macs out of the gate, scoring four of the Macs' eight points in the first five minutes of the third quarter as the Macs took a 36-21. The Knights then scored six points in the second half of the quarter as the Mighty Macs held onto a 38-27 lead.
The Macs dropped 14 points in the fourth quarter, preventing the Knights from getting back into the contest. Lentowski and
Meghan Ricker dropped four points each while the Knights scored 10 points overall on the quarter as the Macs claimed their 52-37 victory.
On the game, Lentowski led the Macs offensively, scoring 12 points off the bench while adding five rebounds and one steal. Kearney, meanwhile, led the Macs defensively with 11 rebounds while adding nine points, one assist, and two steals.
The Mighty Macs will return to action on Monday evening as they travel to Marywood for a 6:00 P.M. matchup.
