RADNOR, PA - The Cabrini women's basketball team rallied for their 10th consecutive victory this evening following a 75-67 final over rival Neumann University on senior night.
Despite early foul trouble limiting seniors
Nomi Washington and
Gaby Jones, the Blue and White leaned on their veteran's leadership and composure to navigate a uneven first half of play.
Trailing by as many as 19 points early in the second quarter, the Cavs were forced to play catch up and chip away at the Knight's lead. Following a three from Neumann's Maia Bryson, the Cavaliers offense went to work.
A pair of free throws from junior
Meghan Matthews and sophomore
Lexi Edwards midway through the second quarter cut the Neumann lead to 30-15. Back to back triples and a layup from sophomore
Kate Lannon swung momentum back in favor of the Blue and White as they trailed by just nine points heading into the intermission at 34-25.
The Blue and White put together a massive third quarter to regain control as they used a 10-to-2 run to open the quarter. A deep three from Edwards followed by a transition layup from Lannon highlighted the run as Cabrini slowly trimmed the Knights' lead.
The Cavs finally broke through with just over four minutes left in the quarter as sophomore
Ashley Tutzauer connected on three of her 20 points thanks to a clean look from Matthews to hand the Blue and White their first lead of the game since the opening bucket.
Tutzuaer delivered her second consecutive triple less than a minute later, while a layup from Matthews pushed the Cavalier lead to 49-45 with 2:27 left in the quarter. Tutzauer would connect on her third three ball in less than four minutes to close out the stanza and hand Cabrini a 54-49 lead heading into the final frame.
Following a jumper from Washington to give the Cavs a 64-55 lead with five minutes to play, Neumann used a 5-to-0 run to trim the Cavs' lead back to four points. That's as close as the Knights would come, however, as ensuing layups from Tutzauer and Matthews would force the Knights to foul and allow Cabrini to cruise to the eventual 75-67 final.
Lannon led the charge offensively for the Blue and White as the sophomore netted 21 points on 9-17 from the field, while Tutzauer finished just behind her classmate with 20 points and five rebounds. Edwards, meanwhile tallied 11 points and five boards, while Matthews continued to stuff the stat sheet. The junior recorded nine points, 11 rebounds, five steals, three blocks and two assists.
Neumann's Nafisa Saunders netted a game high 27 points, despite hitting just 6-of-22 shots from the field. The senior did most of her damage at the charity stripe as she finished a perfect 14-14. Mariah Maciejewski finished with a double double thanks to 10 points and 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
Following tonight's game, the Cavs improve to 16-8 overall and stay perfect at 11-0 in Atlantic East play. A regular season finale with the second seeded Marymount Saints looms large, however as the Cavaliers must win to secure the top seed heading into the Atlantic East postseason tournament. The Cavs will travel to Arlington, VA on Saturday, February 16th to take on the Saints. Tip off is slated for 1pm.