HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (February 15, 2012) – The Centenary women completed their season opposite of how they began it, dropping their fifth consecutive game 67-52 to Marywood University to close out the regular season.
The Cyclones, who started the season 5-0 will have to wait to see if they receive an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) bid in order to extend their season.
Centenary and Marywood began the game each trying to find a rhythm. The early portion of the first half was filled with fouls and missed shots on both ends of the court. Five minutes into the game, Marywood took a 10-6 lead, but had to sit Mariah Shaeffer, one of their top scorers, due to early foul trouble.
The Cyclones took advantage with senior Jasmine Rosa (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) driving to the hoop to earn two trips to the foul line. Rosa drained all four of her early free throws to cut the Marywood lead to 15-14 midway through the opening half. Junior Danielle Trucksess (Collingswood, N.J./Collingswood) would hit a jumper with 9:37 to go in the half to give Centenary its first lead, 16-15.
Marywood would take the lead right back however and after senior Bridget McCann (Keyport, N.J./Keyport) re-tied the game at 18 apiece, the Pacers would go on an 11-1 run spanning over six minutes to take a 29-19 lead headed into the final minute and a half before intermission. Centenary would receive two free throws from McCann and a three point basket from senior Colleen Collins (Colmar, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) to narrow the deficit to 31-24 at the half.
The Pacers expanded the lead to eleven points early in the second half and kept the lead there until Collins would deliver a four point play by hitting a three-pointer while being fouled on the play. Collins converted the free throw cutting the score to 41-34.
Marywood stretched the lead to 46-34 midway through the second half before Centenary mounted a charge, going on a 9-1 run closing to 47-43 with 7:34 to go before the Pacers regained control and ran out the clock, coming away with the 67-52 win.
The loss ends the Cyclones' regular season at 14-11 overall and 7-9 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC).