GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- Gwynedd-Mercy gave the knockout punch in double overtime in defeating Marywood, 82-78, in a CSAC Tournament Semifinal marathon Wednesday night.

The Griffins will advance to the conference championship on Saturday where they'll host Baptist Bible at 6 p.m. right here at the Griffin Complex.

In a game for the ages, the Griffins (19-7) had four players score in double digits led by freshman Jess Rotella who led Gwynedd with a double-double performance with a game high 20 points, 12 of which came in the overtime periods, and 14 rebounds. Sophomore Taylour Alston also contributed a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing 15 caroms. The senior-laden backcourt combination of Brittany Neill and Bryn Cotteta added 14 and 13 points respectively.

In a back-and-forth first half, which featured seven lead changes and five ties, Marywood (18-9) would grind out a 19-11 lead on a Maggie Presnal layup. The Griffins would respond back with an 8-0 spurt to tie the game at 19-19 on and Alston jumper at top of the key. Both teams would trade baskets and would go into the halftime break tied, 23-23. GM shot 40.% in the first 20 minutes and held the Pacers to just 28%, but 12 first-half turnovers helped contribute to the tie score.

The Griffins came out of the locker room on fire, opening the second half on a 12-0 run with Neill contributing eight points during that span, courtesy of two three-pointers, to take a 35-23 lead with 13:50 remaining. Gwynedd would push their lead to eighteen, their largest of the game, on a Cotteta three ball to put the Griffins on top 44-26 with 10:34 on the clock. But just like a boxing match where the fighters traded blows, the Pacers battled back with a 12-0 run of their own with Mariah Schaeffer adding seven points during the spurt to cut the lead to 46-38 with just under eight minutes in regulation. Gwynedd would hold the eight-point lead until the 4:16 mark when Marywood went on another run capped off by an Allison Bruet layup to tie the game 53-53 with 1:54 remaining. The Griffins had two opportunities to score at the end of regulation but to no avail, sending the game into overtime deadlocked at 55-55.

In the first overtime Marywood jumped out to a quick lead as a Marielle Thorsen three-point play gave MU a 65-60 edge. The Griffins would trail the rest of the overtime period until they found some magic with six seconds remaining.  Neill had an opportunity to tie it with a drive to the basket in traffic, but was unable to connect. Alston was able to come down with the rebound and put back the layup off the glass with six seconds left to send the game into double overtime tied at 70-70.

Gwynedd would use a three-point play of their own from Alston followed by a layup off a turnover from Neill to start the second extra session to go ahead by five (77-72). After a Kelsey Yori layup with 1:17 remaining to give GM an 81-74 lead, the Pacers would again not go away. Marywood would cut the lead to three but Alston hit one of two free throws with fourteen seconds remaining to seemingly put the Griffins up by four where they would hold on to advance to their 14th conference championship game.

For the game, the Griffins finished at 39.4% (26-of-66) from the floor including a 5-for-8 performance in the second overtime, however the team hit only 27-of-45 from the charity stripe. Gwynedd's defense held Marywood to 28% (26-of-93) holding them to 5-of-33 from behind the arc.

The Griffins would control the boards, outrebounding the Pacers, 61-53. Sophomore Natasha Matthews eight rebounds and scored nine points.

Rotella added six steals while Cotteta dished out six assists. Alston tied a career-high with six blocks.
Marywood paced four players in double figures: Schaeffer 18, Thorsen 16, Bruet 15 and Presnal 10

With the win the Griffins now host the #2 seed Baptist Bible, who defeated Immaculata, 66-58, on Saturday in the CSAC Championship. GM will be looking for their sixth conference title and first since the 2006-07 season.