FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Donohue, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information, 610-606-4666 x. 3725
CEDAR CREST BASKETBALL TEAM LOSES ON THE ROAD AT PENN STATE BERKS
Reading, PA (November 23, 2010) - A monstrous game by junior Lizzy Sunderhaus (Hamilton, OH/Stephen T. Badin), featuring 25 points, 19 rebounds, a block, a steal and four assists was not enough to tip the scales in Cedar Crest's favor against the Nittany Lions of Penn State Berks. The Falcons were downed 78-64.
The game was a competitive and spirited affair, with Cedar Crest keeping the hosts within site through the opening ten minutes. Two points from the stripe by senior Kelley Cipriani (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) at the 10:33 mark had the Falcons within 3 at 19-16. But as the deeper Penn State began to sub liberally and apply more ball pressure, the Falcons had a string of turnovers and rushed shots that resulted in a 14-4 run by the Lions over the next five minutes, putting Cedar Crest in a 13 point hole. Cedar Crest dug in their heels however, and ended the half on their own 11-5 run to close at 38-31. In particular, sophomore Megan DeMutis (Norristown, PA/Kennedy-Kenrick) had two nice buzzer-beater baskets in that span, including a three-pointer that drew loud objections from the Penn State bench.
The second half was a little more lopsided early on, with Penn State going up by as many as 23, largely on the strength of Shakiyla Stone's team-high 19 points. Penn State had three players in double digits. As the game wore on, Cedar Crest benefitted from the foul situation as the Lions allowed the Falcons in the bonus situation for the final 12:29 of the game. As a result, Cedar Crest outscored the hosts 18-4 from the line, including 11 of 12 shooting by Sunderhaus. Despite the fact that Cedar Crest's lack of depth was a disadvantage, the Falcons showed a lot of heart late in the game to claw their way back to a 14 point deficit when fatigue was clearly taking its toll, ending on a 15-6 run.
The game was Sunderhaus' third consecutive double double. Senior Leann Wallower (Havertown, PA/Haverford) had 15 points and freshman Amber Wehry (Kingerstown, PA/Tri-Valley) had ten.
The Falcons are now 2-2, and Penn State Berks improves to 1-1. Next Tuesday, November 30th, the Falcons will travel to Valley Forge Christian College for a non-conference game at 6:00 before closing out the the first half of the season with three consecutive CSAC games.
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