GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- The Gwynedd Mercy University Women's Basketball team walked away champions of their holiday tournament after beating Trinity College, 68-54, Sunday afternoon at the Griffin Complex improving their record to 5-6 overall.
Sophomore Charlotte Kucowski was named tournament MVP as she netted a career-high 17 points and knocked down three three-pointers on the day.
The Griffins entered the break with a 16 point cushion (39-23), after leading by as much as 25 in the first half. Kucowski kicked off Gwynedd's 14-0 game-opening run, as she drained the first five points for the Griffins, going 3-6 from the field. Freshman Dee Terry would cap off the scoring spurt after sinking her second three of the day at 14:30. A concrete defensive effort by the Griffins would only allow the Bantams six shots in the first five minutes of action until Mackenzie Griffin broke the Bantam drought. Griffin got Trinity on the board at 14:16 with a layup and would go on the score nine of their first half points.
As the break approached, the Bantams would slowly chip away at the GM lead that reached as many as 25 in the stanza. Trifectas from Aubree Udell and Christine Raiti helped close the gap, but it still remained a double-digit deficit.
Kucowski and Terry led the way in the scoring column for the Griffins with seven points apiece in the stanza. Senior and sophomore were close behind with 6 points each. Senior led the way on the boards in the half with 7, Matthews pulled in 6.
The beginning of the second half seemed to be in the Bantam's favor as Alexa Menard drained a corner three that was followed by a steal resulting in an easy layup. However, GM's Kucowski had an answer to the Bantam swing, draining two corner three-pointers to put GM back up by 19. Following a four-point swing in the paint by junior Jackie Crowley, the Griffins never looked back only allowing the Bantams as close as 13 points.
Kucowski led the Griffins in the scoring column with 17 points finishing 3-4 from behind the arc. Natasha Matthews would record yet another double-double on the season (10 points, 13 rebounds) with Kelsey Yori not far behind just missing a triple-double with 10 rebounds, nine points, and seven assists. Terry added nine points, and Nicole Dombrowski chipped in six.
Mackenzie Griffin led the way for the Bantams with a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds). Kaitlin Lewis added nine and Raiti chipped in seven.
Overall the Griffins shot 37.1% (23-62) from the field compared to the Bantam's 26.2% (17-65 effort). The Griffins also took a clear advantage on the boards with 58 compared to the Bantams 37.
Earlier, in the consolation game, Bridgewater State defeated Ramapo, 67-60. Only up by three with under a minute to play, the BSU capitalized on Ramapo foul trouble to hit the free-throw line to eventually come out victorious.
The 10 rebounds for Yori were a personal best. She was joined on the all-tournament team with Kucowski, Griffin, Chanelle Melton of Bridgewater State and Kellie Lane of Ramapo.
The Griffins are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Notre Dame of Maryland University to continue Colonial States Athletic Conference action. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.