Feb. 4, 2006

Box Score

By: Brandy McCreary -

ASTON, PA - The Neumann College Women's Basketball team hosted the Eastern University Eagles Saturday afternoon at Bruder Gymnasium in an attempt to add another win to their 8-11 overall, 6-4 PAC record.

 

Neumann dominated Eastern in rebounds and points in the first half of play in the PAC match-up.  Most of the Knights' points came from turnovers and second effort shots.  Nellie Mixon led the Knights in scoring in the first half with 7 points, trailed by Mary Kate Devine, Ashley Leonard, and Syreeta Brown, each of whom had 4 first-half points.  Eastern's attack struggled to penetrate the Knights' solid defense, but, Raya Shores was able to put up 4 points, along with Mandy Kuiken, who netted 3 points for the Eagles.  Syreeta Brown's defensive efforts grabbed her 5 rebounds for Neumann.  The first half was back and forth, with a total of 20 turnovers, but Neumann's consistent shooting gave the Knights control of the game going into the half with a score of Neumann 24, Eastern 13.

 

Starting out the second half, Nellie Mixon added to Neumann's11 point lead by scoring 7 of the next 9 points for Neumann.  Eastern heard from guard Patrice Freeman, who had 10 points for the Eagles, but it wasn't enough to catch the Knights' growing 13 point lead.  The Knights also had help from seniors Kirsten Patton and Linsey Webb, junior Lauren Johansen, and freshmen Tara DiPhillipo and Mishelle Teagle, who each had a hand in the soon-to-be 29 point lead.  Despite a few more attempts from the Eagles, the Knights' overall team effort gave them the well deserved win over Eastern University, 59-31.

 

"We came ready to play, and we really improved on playing as a team," said Head Coach Frank Farnese.  "We needed to control the rebounds in this game, and we did."  Neumann had a total of 66 rebounds to Eastern's 30.  Farnese also commented on individual efforts.  "Nellie Mixon really stepped up in the second half.  Kim Hinkle played well, and Kirsten Patton played an overall good game.  We played better team defense this game then we did in our last game against Immaculata.  We also gained more confidence in running our offense and were more alert.  Senior leadership played a big role in this game, and overall, I think the girls just had fun."

 

The win for the Knights gives them a record of 9-11, and 7-4 in the PAC.  Eastern now falls to a record of 1-18, and 0-13 in the PAC.

 

The Knights will return to action on Monday, February 6 at Alvernia College for another PAC match-up.