GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa.—For three quarters, the Keystone College women's basketball team stood toe-to-toe with Gwynedd-Mercy University in Colonial States Athletic Conference action Monday evening.

But the Giants couldn't maintain their momentum in the final period, dropping a 66-52 decision.  The loss drops Keystone to 3-13 overall and 2-7 in the CSAC while the Griffins improved to 10-6 overall and 7-1 in league play.

Keystone led 15-11 after the first period, 32-30 at intermission, and 46-44 after the third quarter, but scored just six points the rest of the way.  Senior guard Nina Hodanich led the Giants with 14 points, freshman guard Autum Kitajima finished with 11, and sophomore center Maddy Moro put together another solid game down low, pulling down 20 rebounds and blocking six shots. In her last two games, Moro has pulled down 43 rebounds.

Junior guard Susan Bossler and senior guard Julianna Hoisington scored 15 points apiece and senior guards Bianca Adams and Larissa Leyes each tallied 12 points for Gwynedd-Mercy, which converted 9 of 11 free throw attempts in the fourth period and 15 of 21 (71.4 percent) for the game.

Bossler and Hoisington combined for 11 points as Gwynedd-Mercy opened the fourth quarter with a 14-2 run that turned a 46-44 deficit into a 58-48 lead. 

After Samy Farah opened the fourth quarter with a lay-up to give Keystone a 48-44 lead, the Giants didn't score again until Hodanich drained a jump shot more than five minutes later to cut the Griffins lead to nine, 59-50.  Keystone's only basket after that was a lay-up by Moro with 2:37 left.

Defensively, Keystone limited the Griffins to 34.4 percent shooting from the field (21 of 61) and held a commanding 42-29 advantage in rebounding. 

The Giants will return home Wednesday, January 24, to host Marywood University in CSAC action beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center in LaPlume.