FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Donohue, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information, 610-606-4666 x. 3725
FALCONS CREST WRANGLE THE GATORS 71-36 AT NOTRE DAME
Baltimore, MD (January 15, 2011) - A brief trip south of the Mason-Dixon Line proved to be a fruitful one for Cedar Crest, as the Falcons soundly defeated the College of Notre Dame in CSAC action by a score of 71-36.
Cedar Crest won the tip and never trailed, although the first half was closer than the final score would indicate. The Falcons slowly and methodically built a lead over the first twenty minutes, capped by a nice three-pointer by senior Lauren Seale (Wilmington, DE/Wilmington Christian) with :36 remaining in the half. Seale then pulled down a key defensive rebound on Notre Dame's last possession of the first half as time expired to enter the locker room up 30 to 17, Cedar Crest's largest lead of the half. A major factor in the Falcons' success was the outstanding defensive play of freshman Amber Wehry (Klingerstown, PA/Tri-Valley), who was tasked with guarding Notre Dame's India Scott. Scott, who at 19.9 points per game leads the CSAC and is ranked 18th in the nation in scoring, was held by Wehry to just two first-half points.
The second half saw more of the same, as Cedar Crest increased their lead by upping the intensity and pounding the ball inside to junior Lizzy Sunderhaus (Hamilton, OH/Stephen T. Badin), who is second in scoring in the CSAC behind Scott. Sunderhaus, who had just six points in the first half, finished by leading all scorers with 20 points on 9 of 16 shooting and pulled down 17 boards for yet another double-double. The Falcons stretched their lead to twenty, at which point Coach Val Donohue went to her bench and subbed liberally.
Cedar Crest, who shot a respectable 37.1% in the first half, shot a blistering 61.3% in the second to average 48.5% for the game. The Falcons' 71 points are impressive considering that Notre Dame typically allows just 49.6 points per game, an average scoring defense that places them second in the CSAC and 17th in the nation. All players who entered the game for Cedar Crest scored, and the Falcons out-rebounded the Gators 49-32.
Senior Leann Wallower (Havertown, PA/Haverford) finished with 16 points and Seale had 10 on 2 of 3 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore point guard Megan DeMutis (Norristown, PA/Kennedy-Kenrick) had a career-high 11 assists and chipped in two clutch three-pointers. In the strangely foul-free game, Cedar Crest went to the line just once and was 2-2.
Cedar Crest improves to 5-7 and scores their first conference win (1-5). Notre Dame drops to 2-9 and are 0-4 in the CSAC. The Falcons finish their three-game road trip with a CSAC game at Cabrini on Monday, January 17th, at 6:00 p.m. which will be carried live on www.pennatlantic.com.
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