LAS VEGAS -- Gwynedd Mercy drained 13 three-pointers as a team to knock off #20th-ranked Vassar, 82-74, in the final day of the Vegas Hoopla.
Junior Kelsey Yori (Folsom, Pa./Ridley) and sophomore Chander DiFebbo (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) had career days, as each scored a personal-best 18 points while both going a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. The Griffins (4-6) opened up a 10-point halftime edge to lead by as much as 21 midway in the second, in leading the entire stanza.
Cydni Matsuoka led all scorers, netting 24 of her 28 points in the second half to lead a late charge for the Brewers (6-2), but the Griffin sharpshooters were just too much, hitting eight of their 13 treys.
Gwynedd got things off on the right foot, racing out to a 12-2 run to open the contest. Vassar would answer, with a 10-0 run of their own to knot the contest up at the midway point in the first. Yori would nail a three-pointer to restore a one-point edge (27-26), a lead the Griffins would not relinquish the rest of the way. Yori would hit from downtown again as part of a 9-0 run to close the half to give GM a 41-31 advantage.
In the second, it was bombs away as back-to-back longballs from DiFebbo and Nicole Dougherty (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) made it 61-43. Lauren Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) gave GM its largest lead of the game with her steal and open layup for a 72-51 lead with 9:22 left.
Matsuoka and the Brewers didn't go quietly, as she would score seven-straight points over a minute and a half span to pull Vassar within 11 with 2:53 showing. Senior Jordan Dominic (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) would seemingly put the dagger in Vassar's chances, by hitting a three-pointer on the next possession to help the Griffins to the win.
Dougherty (13 points), Dominic (11 points) and junior Natasha Matthews (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) all reached double figures for GM. Matthews collected her first double-double of the season , registering 11 points and 10 boards. Smith would add six assists and five rebounds.
For the game, Gwynedd was 32-of-66 (48.5%) from the floor and an impressive 13-of-21 (61.9%) from downtown.