COLLEGEVILLE, Pa.- The Immaculata women's basketball team opened their 2023-24 season on the road at Ursinus. The Mighty Macs fell to Ursinus 76-56 in Brittany Whalen's first game as Head Coach of Immaculata.
In the first quarter, Immaculata opened the scoring when Tessa Liberatoscioli (Malvern, Pa. / Great Valley) hit one-of-two from the free throw line. Ursinus took a quick 9-2 lead, before Morgan Falcone (Garnet Valley, Pa. / Garnet Valley) cut into the lead with a three-pointer. Ursinus used their size and physicality to take a 21-11 lead into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Immaculata got three pointers from Reece Mullins (Hockessin, DE / Tower Hill) and Morgan Falcone (Garnet Valley, Pa. / Garnet Valley), and lay ups from Abigail Lentowski (Covington Twp, Pa. / Holy Cross HS), Olivia Ettorre (Mickelton, N.J. / Kingsway Regional). Ursinus would hold a 43-26 lead at the half-time break. Morgan Falcone and Reese Mullins each scored seven points, and Abigail Lentowski had five points in the first half.
In the third quarter, both teams started slow. Abigail Lentowski (Covington Twp, Pa. / Holy Cross HS) hit a three-pointer with 6:45 remaining to get the Mighty Macs going. Tessa Liberatoscioli (Malvern, Pa. / Great Valley) hit a pair of free throws and Morgan Falcone (Garnet Valley, Pa. / Garnet Valley) hit four free throws as the Macs began to cut away at the Ursinus lead. Olivia Ettorre (Mickelton, N.J. / Kingsway Regional) scored six points in the third quarter as Immaculata outscored Ursinus 17-13 in the quarter and trailed Ursinus 56-43 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Immaculata continued to press Ursinus, forcing turnovers. Immaculata scored 13 points in the fourth quarter as Ursinus closed out the win 76-56.
Immaculata battled hard in the second half, and there were positive things they could take away from the game as Ursinus only outscored Immaculata 33-30 in the half.
Reese Mullins (Hockessin, DE / Tower Hill) led Immaculata with 15 points and nine rebounds, Morgan Falcone (Garnet Valley, Pa. / Garnet Valley) had 12 points and two steals, and Abigail Lentowski (Covington Twp, Pa. / Holy Cross HS) contributed 10 points. Tessa Liberatoscioli (Malvern, Pa. / Great Valley) had seven points, six rebounds, and four steals, and Olivia Ettorre (Mickelton, N.J. / Kingsway Regional) had seven points and four rebounds. Francesca Scarpone (Broomall, Pa. / Merion Mercy) scored five points for the Mighty Macs.
Ursinus was able to control the game inside the paint, as they outscored Immaculata 46-26 in the paint.
Up Next:
Immaculata women's basketball will be back in action on Saturday, November 11th when they host Moravian University at Alumnae Hall for their home opener at 1:00 p.m.
