Gwynedd Valley, PA - On Saturday, Cedar Crest traveled to perennial CSAC powerhouse Gwynedd-Mercy College, and for about the first 13:00 of the game the Falcons looked as though they were ready to give the Griffins all they could handle.

Although Gwynedd-Mercy scored right from the tip-off, the opening minutes were spirited and Cedar Crest stayed within single digits. Even when the Griffins went up by 10 and seemed about to break the game open, the Falcons remained poised. They cut the margin back to six, at which point a vocal Coach Mondillo sat his women down for a good talking to. Even then, the Falcons got within six as late as the 8:32 mark on a jumper by sophomore Amber Wehry (Klingerstown, PA/Tri-Valley Jr/Sr).

But at that point, Cedar Crest saw the wheels come off. Gwynedd-Mercy played 12 players in the first half, and as has happened so often this year, the Falcons' short bench led to fatigue, and the resulting mental errors, turnovers, and cold shooting allowed the Griffins to close the half on a crushing 30-2 run.

The halftime score of 53-19 was surprising given how evenly the teams played early on. But in the first half alone, Cedar Crest had 13 turnovers to Gwynedd-Mercy's five, and the Griffins' Bryn Cotteta and Brittany Neill were both 4 for 5 from three-point range while the Falcons were just 1 for 10 as a team from beyond the arc.

Gwynedd-Mercy continued their assault in the second half, opening on a 27-3 run with the Falcons' only points coming from the free throw line. Junior Megan DeMutis (Norristown, PA/Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic) finally broke the scoring drought with a three-pointer with just under ten minutes to play, and Cedar Crest went on to score 23 points to the Griffins' 16 over the closing minutes. The final was 96-45.

Cotteta led all scorers with 22 points. Cedar Crest senior Lizzy Sunderhaus (Hamilton, OH/Stephen T. Badin) led the Falcons with 20 points and was the game's high rebounder with ten boards. For the game, Cedar Crest shot 29.8% to the Griffins' blistering 58.7%.

With the loss, Cedar Crest falls to 3-14 on the season and 1-9 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference, while Gwynedd-Mercy improves to 12-6 overall and 8-1 in the CSAC. On Monday, January 23rd, the Falcons travel to Wilkes-Barre for a non-conference matchup with Wilkes University. Game time is 8:00 PM.