FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Donohue, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information, 610-606-4666 x. 3725
WALLOWER IS "GRAND," BUT FALCONS LOSE TO CSAC CHAMPS NEUMANN
Allentown, PA (December 4, 2010) - Cedar Crest senior Leann Wallower (Havertown, PA/Haverford) entered the 1000 Point Club today against defending Colonial States Athletic Conference champions Neumann University, but her accomplishment could not stave off the Knights, who won the game 79-59. Wallower started the game needing just six points to reach the milestone, which she hit on a drive to the basket with 3:53 remaining in the first half. She finished with 19 points on 8 of 16 shooting to put her at 1013 for her career with a long season still to go.
Cedar Crest may have won the tap and scored the first basket, but Neumann quickly showed they lost little from last year's title-winning team as they took the lead for good at 10-8 with 14:57 still remaining in the first half. The Knights' Cecily Scavicchio was unstoppable with 17 points in the first half alone on 6 of 10 from the floor, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, and Katie Young made her presence known in the paint with 11 boards and nine points, also in the first half. Neumann subbed liberally and could afford to apply considerable ball pressure to the Falcons, who were forced into 15 turnovers in the first half. The visitors gradually extended their lead to 17 at the half, going into the break up 43-26. Almost half of those 26 points came from Cedar Crest junior Lizzy Sunderhaus (Hamilton, OH/Stephen T. Badin) whose first half double double, 12 points and 11 boards, kept the Falcons in the game.
Some halftime adjustments by Cedar Crest seemed to pay off. The Falcons reduced their turnovers to 11, just three more than the eight forced on Neumann. Scavicchio would go on to score just one more basket and two points from the line, and Young had just two points and no rebounds in the second half. Neumann continued to sub and fresh legs began to take their toll however, as the Knights continued to extend their lead to as many as 32 in the second half. To their credit, the Falcons overcame their fatigue and finished the game on a 12-0 run to reach the final score of 79-59.
Sunderhaus finished with 21 points including 5 of 5 from the stripe to tie Scavicchio for leading scorer. Cedar Crest had three players in double-figures - in addition to Wallower and Sunderhaus, freshman Amber Wehry (Klingerstown, PA/Tri-Valley) had 11 points and nine rebounds. Despite being hounded all afternoon, sophomore point guard Megan DeMutis (Norristown, PA/Kennedy-Kenrick) managed three assists, two steals and seven points. Senior Lauren Seale (Wilmington, DE/Wilmington Christian) helped share ball-handling duties and finished with two steals and four boards.
The Falcons drop to 3-4 on the season and 0-2 in the CSAC, while Neumann improves to 4-4 and 2-0 in the conference. Cedar Crest's final conference game of the semester will be at Keystone on Monday at 7:00 p.m. and will be carried live on www.pennatlantic.com. The Falcons close the semester at Bryn Mawr on Thursday.
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