The Cabrini women’s basketball team stepped it up against the Marywood University Pacers to secure a 58-48 win on Saturday, Feb. 1. The Lady Cavs jumped back on top of the CSAC standings with a primarily defensive game.
Cabrini was the first to notch points on the scoreboard with a jumper by junior Megan Decker just two minutes into the game. For the next few minutes both teams struggled to gain the upper hand. Right before and continuing past the halfway mark of the first half, the Lady Cavs went on a 15-2 run to make the lead 20-11.
The Cavaliers eventually took things into the locker room with one leg up by a score of 32-28. When they returned for the second half of the game they were ready to make an impact.
For the majority of the second half the blue and white couldn’t get past a nine-point margin multiple times. A jumper by Marywood’s Ashley Murray tied the game at 46 with a little over eight minutes to go.
For those last eight minutes the Lady Cavs only let up two more points. While amping the defensive end of the game, Cabrini managed to tally 12 more points to secure the win.
Senior Brittany Sandone led the way for the Cavaliers with 16 points and set a new career high of six steals. Fellow senior Annie Rivituso played a key role with her second double double of the season, consisting of 14 points and 17 rebounds.
Junior Amber Keys snagged 10 rebounds while Decker evened Rivituso with 14 points.
Decker said, “Today’s win was a big one for us on the road. The gym was packed because of [Marywood’s] senior day and it was very loud. It was exciting from the tip-off to the final buzzer.” She also added, “I think what made us the most confident with this win was when we took our time on offense and ran our plays. We used the shot clock and even got big offensive rebounds to seal the win.” Decker concluded, “Today’s win definitely gave us the confidence we need to go into Wednesday’s game. We have to continue to stop teams defensively and the rest will come easy.”
Head coach Kate Pearson said, “It is always tough playing on the road and we definitely struggled shooting the ball but we relied on our defense to get us some easy baskets and in the end were able to hold them off.” Pearson also added, “Today was a great team win. We can use this to build on our defense as our key to winning but good teams know every game is a new game so we must move forward.”
The win against the Pacers puts Cabrini back on top of the CSAC with a 10-1 record and takes their overall record to 16-4.
The Lady Cavs will next go to work on Wednesday, Feb. 5 when they travel to Gwynedd-Mercy University to take on the Griffins (10-10, 7-4 CSAC). Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
