Jan. 12, 2008

Box Score

Aston, Pa.--The Neumann Knights women's basketball team handed the Pacers their first PAC loss with a 53-45 win over the Pacers Saturday afternoon in Scranton, Pa. With the win Neumann improves to 7-5 (2-1 PAC) while the Pacers slip to 8-2 (2-1 PAC).

"The Holiday break really helped this team get some much needed rest," stated Head Coach Frank Farnese when asked about the Knights recent turnabout. "We really have some great players on this team and now that everyone is back and healthy we are really seeing an increase in communication and respect among the players. It has been a great start to the second half of the season."

The evenly contested battle stayed close for much of the first half of play until Neumann was able to break loose with an 11-2 run over four minutes to stretch their lead to 25-17.  Marywood took a brief 15-14 lead on a Stephanie Fusaro lay-up with 6:30 left in the opening period.  Neumann countered with an Ashley Pearsall 3-pointer to put the Knights up two, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game.  Dominique Thompson came off the bench to lead Neumann with seven first-half points as the Knights took a 27-20 lead into intermission. 

Marywood fought back to within three over the first seven minutes of the second half, but Neumann again answered, this time with a 6-0 run, to take a 37-28 lead.  Lizzy Green entered the game and made an immediate impact with a hook shot that cut the Knights' lead to two (37-35) but Neumann's Dorothy Rozier quickly responded with a lay-up to give the Knights a four-point cushion with 7:23 to play.  From there, Neumann controlled the tempo but Marywood missed several key lay-up attempts which could have changed the outcome. 

 

Thompson led all Neumann scorers on the day with 14 points and added six rebounds.  Teammate Brittany Whetts had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  Krista DiRomualdo was the third Knight in double-figures with a 13-point effort on 5 of 12 shooting from the floor.

 

Marywood was led by Fusaro's game-high 15-point effort, but Fusaro was the lone Pacer to reach the double-digit mark.  Fusaro added a team-high 9 rebounds.  Marywood shot just 17 of 59 (28.8% from the floor on the day, while Neumann hit 32.7% (17 of 52) of their attempts.

 

Neumann returns to action Monday when the host Rosemont College at 7:00 p.m.