Wilkes-Barre, PA – Jerica Rode (Lords Valley, PA/Wallenpaupack) recorded a double-double on career-highs of 22 points and 18 rebounds to lead Keystone College's women's basketball team to a 78-73 victory at Wilkes University in their final game of the calendar year on Monday night.  The Giants improve 5-4 on the season with the non-conference win while the Colonels fall to 5-3 on the year.
 
Tied at 8-8 in the opening minutes of Monday evening's contest, Keystone netted seven straight points to open up their largest lead of the half at 15-8 when Alyssa Cuomo (Odessa, DE/Hodgson Vo-tech) connected on a three-pointer with 16:11 left in the opening stanza.  Wilkes battled back and took a 27-26 edge midway through the period when Catey McFadden connected from downtown and the Colonels extended their lead to 35-30 with 6:51 left on the clock. 
 
Samantha Donahue (Taylor, PA/Riverside) briefly put Keystone back at the point, 37-36, by knocking down a pair of free throws at the 4:23 mark before the hosts went back in front on a Cara Basile jumper with 3:52 left.  The Giants would close the half with an 8-2 run to take a 45-40 lead into the intermission.
 
Rode led Keystone with 12 points and seven rebounds in the first half while Donahue and Ashley Evans (Wooster, OH/Wooster) netted nine points apiece in the period.  The Giants shot a solid, 51.4 percent from the floor in the opening stanza while going 4-8 from three point range and 5-7 from the free throw line in the half.
 
Cara Basile paced Wilkes with 12 points and six boards in the opening 20 minutes of play while Chelsea Brown contributed 10 points.  The Colonels connected on 35.7 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half while going 4-12 from beyond the arc and 6-8 from the charity stripe.
 
Cuomo hit a trey to open the second half to push the visitor's lead to eight points before Wilkes surged to within a single point, 51-50, on a Basile field goal with 16:14 remaining.  Keystone countered with the game's next seven points and pushed their lead to 67-57 with 8:47 left to play as Cuomo knocked down a pair of free throws.
 
Wilkes answered with a 14-1 run to claim a 71-68 edge with 4:14 showing on the clock.  After a Jazmyn Robinson (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) layup, Rode restored the Giants' lead for good with a fast break lay-in with 3:20 remaining.  Keystone would pull away for the five-point victory by holding the Colonels to just two points over the final 3:41.
 
Rode's team-leading 22 points came on a 9-17 shooting night while the senior led all players with 18 rebounds including six offensive boards.  The senior forward also blocked a pair of shots in the victory.  Cuomo finished the evening with 15 points while Robison added 14 points and six assists.  Evans added four helpers for the Giants, who shot 46.9 percent from the field for the game, 46.7 percent from three-point land, and 55.0 percent from the foul line.
 
Basile led Wilkes with a game-high 26 points while Chelsea Brown recorded a double-double on 16 points and 14 rebounds.  Elena Stambone contributed 11 points while Kayla Brahm led all players with seven assist for the Colonels, who finished the evening shooting 31.3 percent from the floor, 20.8 percent from the field, and 81.8 percent from the free throw line.
 
Keystone held a 55-43 advantage on the glass for the game while both teams committed 21 turnovers apiece.
 
The Giants will be off until after the New Year and will return to action at the Marywood University Classic on Saturday, January 3^rd.  Keystone will take on Mount Aloysius College at 4:00 p.m. on the opening day of the tournament before playing King's College that Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in Scranton, Pennsylvania.