Cuomo Reaches 1,000-Point Milestone in CSAC Setback to Centenary

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La Plume, PA – Alyssa Cuomo (Odessa, DE/Hodgson Vo-tech) scored a game-high 21 points including the 1,000th point of her career, but visiting Centenary College rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to defeat Keystone College 69-62 in Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night.  The Cyclones, who outscored the hosts 41-22 in the second half, lift their record to 4-13 on the season and 3-5 in conference play with the win while the Giants slip to 8-8 overall and 5-2 in the CSAC.   

 
Cuomo went over the 1,000-point mark with 1:53 remaining in the first half when she connected on a three-pointer from the corner to push Keystone's lead to 40-26.  The senior guard, who now has 1,008 points for her career, becomes the eighth player in program history and the second player for the Giants to reach the milestone this season, joining classmate Jazmyn Robinson (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) who accomplished the feat in a win at Rosemont College in December.
 
Keystone built a 20-14 lead over the first seven and half minutes of Wednesday's contest before Centenary rallied to take a brief, 23-22 advantage with 9:11 remaining in the first half.  Robinson scored on a layup on the Giants' ensuing possession and the hosts outscored the Cyclones 18-5 the rest of the period to hold a 40-28 advantage at the break.
 
Cuomo led all scorers with 14 points to go along with six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play while Ashley Evans (Wooster, OH/Wooster) tallied 10 points in the frame.  Robinson dished out seven assists in the period for the Giants, who shot 48.5 percent from the floor while going 4-11 from three-point range and 4-7 from the free throw line in the stanza.
 
Mallory George paced Centenary in the first half with seven points while Nicole Cartaino and Ally Fugnitti added five points apiece.  Melissa Rabe grabbed six boards for the Cyclones, who hit on just 25 percent of the attempts from the floor in the opening stanza while going 2-13 from beyond the arc and 4-6 from the stripe.
 
Keystone pushed their lead to 13 points five and a half minutes into the second half before Centenary used an 8-1 run to trim their deficit to six points, 50-44, with 11:40 remaining.  The Giants extended their lead to 60-50 with 6:01 left on the clock, but the Cyclones rallied with a 17-0 run that put them up 67-60 with 23 seconds remaining to secure the comeback win.
 
George finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Rabe added a double-double on 15 points and a game-high 14 boards to lead Centenary.  Fugnitti dished out a team-high six assists while Taylor Pryslak collected a game-high three steals as the visitors forced the Giants into 24 turnovers, their second-most of the season.
 
For the game, Centenary connected on 32.9 percent of their field goal attempts while going just 3-15 from downtown.  The Cyclones also made 16 of 23 (69.6 percent) of their free throw attempts.
 
Cuomo's 21 points came on an 8-15 night from the floor that included four three pointers and the senior finished a rebound shy of a double-double with a team-best nine boards.  Evans finished the contest with 12 points, Robinson chipped in with 10 points and a game-high eight assists, and AAliya Hayes (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) contributed nine points for Keystone.
 
Chelsey Hropovich (Seward, PA/Ligonier Valley) led all players with four blocked shots on the night while Jerica Rode (Lords Valley, PA/Wallenpaupack) rejected three shots by the Cyclones in the loss. 
 
The Giants finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from the floor after being held to just eight field goals in the second half.  The hosts were 5-18 (27.8 percent) from three-point range and 9-13 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line on the evening.
 
Keystone will be back in action next Wednesday evening when they host Immaculata University in a conference matchup scheduled to tipoff at 7:00 p.m. in La Plume.