New year, new head coach, same result for the Keuka College women's basketball team.
Junior Mariah Mouzon (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) scored 12 points, one of three members of the Storm (5-1, 3-0 North Eastern Athletic Conference) to score in double-figures, and Keuka defeated NEAC rival Lancaster Bible College 57-43 Saturday afternoon in the coaching debut of Katie Marcella, who took over for longtime head coach Dave Sweet after Sweet underwent full hip replacement surgery in mid-December.
Sophomore Danielle Gravel (Sidney, NY/Sidney) added a team-leading 15 points with 3 assists and 3 steals while classmate Taylor Szwec (Candor, NY/Candor) added 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting for Keuka. The Storm outrebounded Lancaster Bible (2-6, 2-2 NEAC) 48-35 as Mouzon, Szwec and sophomore Jessica Bandrowski (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches) each grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore Casey Chamberlain (Perry, NY/Perry) and freshman Brittany Hadley (Jasper, NY/Jasper-Troupsburg) each added six rebounds while Gravel, Bandrowski and freshman Erica Pendrak (Utica, NY/New York Mills) each had three steals apiece for Keuka.
While Marcella said she was nervous serving as Keuka's head coach for the first time, she said those butterflies went away after the game started.
"I was nervous (with our team playing its first game) back from the break but we played like a team today," Marcella said with a smile after securing her first-career coaching win.
"It feels good (to get this win) because I've known for a while that I wanted to be a head coach, since I was in college. My family was here today and they've always been real big supporters of me, so for them to be here means a lot. The girls had my back and have been great, the school has been great, everybody has wished me luck and Dave has a lot of confidence in me, which helps a lot."
Since suffering a 99-78 loss at William Smith College on Nov. 19, the Storm has won four straight games, outscoring the opposition 261-178 (an average of 65-44.5).
After scoring just 17 points over her first four games, Mouzon has reached double-figures in her last two games, having scored 25 points in the last two Keuka contests.
"Mariah, she's a junior and she's finally coming together and becoming a powerhouse player for us down inside, which is what we need her to be," Marcella said. "She stepped up to the plate and our girls in general stepped up today. We were very unselfish with the ball, and with our balanced scoring we'll have three to four players in double-digits which is nice. You don't always have to rely on one person to score 10, 12, 20 points a game."
Lauren Heliger scored 20 points and Brooklyn Wilson added 13 points for Lancaster Bible, which was held to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor (16-for-56) for the game.
After falling behind 4-2, the Storm went on a 21-9 run to seize control for good late in the first half. The Keuka lead grew to 32-16 when Mouzon made a layup with 1:08 remaining before intermission as the Storm enjoyed a 34-20 halftime lead.
The Chargers never threatened again and the Storm's lead never dipped below 13 in the second half. When Gravel buried a '3' less than four minutes into the second, the Storm had its biggest lead of the game, 44-24.
The Storm returns to action with a 3 p.m. clash Sunday afternoon against Penn State-Berks.