WASHINGTON, D.C. — Elizabethtown built a six-point halftime lead in Wednesday evening's Landmark Conference semifinal at Catholic, but the Blue Jays were held to 19 points in the final 20 minutes as their season came to an end with a 52-47 loss.
Taylor Alwine scored a game-high 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Blue Jays (18-7), who were making their fourth consecutive conference tournament appearance, but first in the Landmark.
Michelle DeSantis scored four of the first six points as second-seeded Catholic jumped in front just over four minutes in. E-town, bogged down by four turnovers on its first six possessions, eventually steadied itself. Once the Blue Jays got comfortable, they were off to the races.
Down 15-7, Rachel Forjan drilled a 3-pointer and Krissy Pennell canned a jumper to quickly bring third-seeded Elizabethtown within three points at 15-12. Alwine hit a foul shot and another bucket to even the score with 6:57 left in the first half.
Alwine and Alyssa Aichele then connected for back-to-back baskets, the latter giving the visitors their first lead, 21-19.
Aichele's trey from the right wing in transition extended the E-town lead to 26-20. Emily Young pushed it to eight with a layup on her team's next trip down. The Blue Jays finished the half on a 21-7 run to lead 28-22 at the break.
As good as the final eight minutes of the first half were for the Blue Jays, long scoreless stretches defined the second half and eventually caught up with them.
When Forjan found Alwine for a layup with 16:32 left, Elizabethtown still led by five, 33-28. The Jays went the better part of the next six minutes without a bucket, falling behind by seven. Nikki Thompson's put back cut Catholic's (18-8) advantage to five with 10:47 to go.
A few possessions later, Emily Martin scored two of her seven points to make it a three-point game. But, the Jays would suffer through another offensive drought, this one lasting more than four minutes, before Alwine made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe.
E-town still had its chances down the stretch, as the Cardinals failed to put the game away cleanly, even with a 10-point lead and three minutes left on the clock.
Alwine scored five more points and again went 1-of-2 at the line with 24 seconds remaining to cut CUA's lead to 50-47. Though her second free throw was off the mark, Catholic couldn't control the rebound, giving the Blue Jays a chance to tie. Elizabethtown couldn't get a shot off, however, and turned it over with less than 10 seconds to go.
Kristen Walheim converted on two free throws at the other end to seal it for the Cards, who advanced to the Landmark Conference Championship for the third time in the last four season, and will face nationally-ranked Scranton Saturday for the right to go to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Elizabethtown, which was not in the top six in the Mid-Atlantic Region rankings entering the tournament, sees its season come to an end in the conference semifinals for a fourth straight season. The Blue Jays enjoyed their fourth straight campaign of 15 wins or more, finishing 18-7.
Aichele scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds for Elizabethtown. Pennell and Forjan had five points each, but no player in double figures besides Alwine.
DeSantis led the way for Catholic with 16 points, nine boards, six assists and five steals in 36 minutes. Melissa Errico provided a lift on the bench with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Bridget Power, Jayni Webster and Josephine Migash collected six points apiece.
Despite making just 1-of-11 threes, the Cards were good on 21-of-53 shots overall (39.6%), bettering the Jays' 19-of-57 performance. CUA also held a 43-39 advantage on the glass.
