ASTON, Pa. – The No. 2 seeded Neumann University women's basketball team fell to No. 3 Gwynedd Mercy University 88-69 in a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) semifinals game on Wednesday evening.
 
AAliya Hayes led the Knights with a double-double, 26 points and 12 rebounds. Nafisa Saunders tallied 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
The first quarter started off with a battle. With the game tied 6-6, Neumann went on a 7-2 run to take a 13- 8 lead with 3:52 left on the clock. Gwynedd answered back with a 12-1 run and would outscore Neumann 18-2 over the remainder of the quarter to take a 26-15 lead after the 10 minutes.  
 
Saunders opened the second quarter netting a three-pointer, but the Griffins answered with five straight points. Both teams would exchange points throughout the rest of the quarter. Gwynedd Mercy hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer and the Griffins took a 43-30 lead into the break.
 
The Knights spent the first part of the third quarter working their way back to within five, 53-48. The Griffins answered by scoring six of the next seven points to retake a double-digit lead, 59-49. The teams traded the final four baskets of the quarter and Gwynedd Mercy took a 63-53 lead into the final 10 minutes.  
 
 
Gwynedd Mercy scored eight of the first nine points in the fourth quarter to increase its lead. The Griffins steadily built up their lead until the final buzzer to win the semifinal game and move onto the CSAC Championship game.  
 
Neumann (18-8) will now wait for the ECAC Tournament bids to be announced on Monday to see if its season will continue.