ANGOLA, In. – The Atlantic East Champion Mighty Macs women's basketball team dropped their first-ever NCAA Tournament contest on Friday to the host Trine Thunder 62-37. The contest concludes a successful 18-9 season for the Mighty Macs in whih they posted an 8-4 record in conference play on the way to earning the program's first Atlantic East Conference Championship title.
 
Three-pointers from Morgan Falcone and Erin Kelly gave the Macs an early 6-3 lead in the first quarter for the Mighty Macs. Tessa Liberatoscioli later added a layup on the quarter as the Macs found themselves down 11-8 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Macs only managed one point in the first five minutes of the second quarter as the Thunder increased their lead to 17-9 halfway through the period. Abigail Boyer then boarded a rebound off a Falcone shot, sending the ball back to Falcone for a two-pointer as the Macs regained momentum. Boyer then dropped her first point of the night, a three-pointer, with 90 seconds remaining. On the quarter, the Macs found themselves outscored 16-6.
 
Junior Morgan Falcone led the Macs on the first half with six points scored. Meanwhile, fellow junior Erin Kelly led the Macs defensively with seven rebounds while scoring three points for the Macs.
 
The Thunder scored seven straight points to start the second half before a three-pointer from Meghan Ricker got the Macs on the board in the third quarter. Seven minutes into the quarter, the Macs were down 41-19 when Theresa Kearney scored back-to-back to cut into the Thunder's lead. Kearney scored six points on the quarter, but the Macs could not keep up as the Thunder's offense came alive in the third quarter. Outscored 19-11 on the half, the Macs found themselves down 46-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Kearney and Kaitlyn Racobaldo recorded back-to-back jumpshots to kick off the fourth quarter for the Macs. After a layup from Kearney with seven minutes to go, the Macs were kept scoreless for the next four minutes until Tessa Liberatoscioli recorded a layup. She then dropped two straight free throws as the Macs were down 60-35 with under three minutes remaining.
 
The Macs were unable to break through the Thunder's defense to force a comeback, dropping the contest 62-37.
 
"This was a great experience for us," said head coach Chrissy Rhine. "I think our team played really hard. It was a tough game, Trine is a very well-known defensive team, but the girls played their hearts out and we were excited for the experience."
 
Morgan Falcone and Theresa Kearney led the Macs on the night with 10 points each. Meghan Ricker contributed with three assists while adding three points while Erin Kelly recorded nine rebounds while scoring three points as well.
 
The 2021-22 season was a successful one for the Mighty Macs. Theresa Kearney concludes her collegiate career with 1,476 career points, good for second place in Immaculata women's basketball history, while also earning All-Conference First Team honors. While Kearney highlights the team individually, the Mighty Macs saw production across the board with several players coming in clutch for the Macs over the course of the season. As a collective, the Macs claimed the program's first Atlantic East Championship at home while also earning the program's first-ever bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
"It was a really fun experience and we have a lot of really good returning players next year," explained Falcone. "We are going to miss Theresa, Meg, and Sydney next year, but I definitely think we can make it back to the tournament next year."
 
Now with the program's first taste of NCAA Tournament action, the Mighty Macs will look to return to the Tournament in the 2022-23 season.