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CEDAR CREST BASKETBALL UPSETS CENTENARY IN CSAC QUARTERFINALS TO EARN FIRST PLAYOFF WIN IN SCHOOL HISTORY – ALSO SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINS IN A SEASON

Hackettstown, NJ (February 23, 2009) – The Cedar Crest College basketball team broke the school record for wins in a season and earned its first playoff win in school history by pulling an 82-71 upset over Centenary College in Colonial States Athletic Conference Quarterfinal action on Monday evening.

Cedar Crest, which has historically never won a playoff game, was the No. 6 seed and Centenary was the No. 3 seed coming into tonight’s contest.  The last time a No. 6 seed upset a No. 3 seed in the CSAC (Formerly known as the PAC) was in the 2005-06 season when Neumann College upset Immaculata University, 60-52. 

The Falcons were led by junior Kelly Oakes (Wilmington, DE/Delcastle) who posted her 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 boards.  Oakes shot a game-best 7-for-10 from the field. 

Freshman Lizzy Sunderhaus (Hamilton, OH/Stephen T. Badin), who was just named the CSAC Rookie of the Year and First-Team All CSAC, added her 14th double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.  She also added a game-high five blocks.  Junior Lakeema Jones (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport) also hit a double-double for Cedar Crest with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Jones dished out a game-high six assists.  Sophomores Keri Lasky (Annandale, NJ/Hunterdon) and Leann Wallower (Haverford, PA/Havertown) scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, while sophomore Lauren Seale (Wilmington, DE/Wilmington Christian) added eight points for the Falcons. 

Cedar Crest held the lead for the entire first half and went into the locker room up, 43-32, but the Falcons would see that lead quickly diminish early in the second half.  Cetenary chipped away over the first five minutes of the second half and took the 49-48 lead when Jen Vasta made a layup at the 15:06 mark.  The Cyclones went up by as much as six when Vasta nailed two free throws with 6:59 remaining. 

Wallower, Jones, and Oakes all hit layups over the next minute to tie the contest, 63-63.  Centenary’s Hannah Ally made two free throws to put the Cyclones ahead for the final time of the night with 5:02 remaining.  Cedar Crest then went on a 10-0 run to take a 73-65 lead at the 3:10 mark.    Cedar Crest, which is ranked sixth in the nation in free throw shooting, went 5-of-6 over the final three minutes to secure the victory. 

Centenary was led by Vasta, who tallied a game-high 20 points.  Kristin Camuso, who previously scored 49 and 31 points against Cedar Crest, was held to just eight points in the contest. 

Cedar Crest, which improved to 14-11 overall, set the new school record for wins in a season.  The previous school record of 13 wins was set in the 1998-99 season, when the Falcons last made the playoffs.  Centenary fell to 17-8 overall in the loss.

The Falcons will travel to No. 1 seed Cabrini College on Wednesday evening for a 7:00 p.m. matchup in CSAC semifinal action. 

BOXSCORE

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