MORRISTOWN, N.J. – The Cedar Crest College basketball team hung tough in a 65-54 loss at Saint Elizabeth University in a United East Conference-Skye Division matchup at Saint Joseph Hall on Tuesday night.
The Falcons got out to a hot start, embarking on an 11-4 run to open the game, capped off by a jumper by first-year
Gwenyth Tsoukalas (North Port, Fla./North Port) with six minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Cedar Crest led by as many as eight, 13-5, following a jump shot from first-year
Megan Perrine (Mount Vision, N.Y./Gilbertsville-Mount Upton). The Eagles answered back with a 10-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. The run was finished off by a layup from sophomore Nacheca Joseph (Newark, N.J.) with 3:18 left on the clock. Each team would lead one more time before the end of the stanza and junior Destiny Battle (East Orange, N.J.) knocked down a free throw with 1:01 remaining to tie the contest at 17-17 at the end of the first quarter.
After the teams traded one-point leads in the early stages of the second frame, back-to-back triples from Tsoukalas would give the Falcons a 25-19 advantage on the scoreboard. Cedar Crest held that five-point lead until later in the quarter as Saint Elizabeth closed the frame on a 6-0 run over the final 3:28 to carry a 29-28 lead into the half.
The Eagles would push its margin to double-digits in the third quarter, thanks to a 16-2 run to extend the score to 49-35. Tsoukalas converted a three late to cut the deficit to 12, 49-37, but a layup by sophomore Ahjionae Cobb (Landing, N.J.) was the last basket of the stanza, which gave Saint Elizabeth a 51-37 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Falcons would make one last charge in the fourth frame, as the visitors would trim the margin to as few as 12 in the early parts of the quarter before cutting it to 11 before the final buzzer after a layup from Perrine with 31 seconds to play to make the score, 65-54, the eventual final.
Tsoukalas registered a season-high 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting (4-for-8 from three-point range), to go along with two assists and two steals. Perrine also turned in a season-high 14 points, shooting 7-for-9 from the floor. The first-year also had four rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. Junior
Rachel Bilger (Philadelphia, Pa./Upper Dublin) tallied six points, a team-high 10 boards, two assists, and four steals. First-year
Caylie Long (Powder Springs, Ga./Hillgrove) contributed eight points, two rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
Battle paced Saint Elizabeth with 16 points, three rebounds, five assists, and nine steals.
Cedar Crest (0-5 overall, 0-3 United East-Skye Division) will next host Rosemont College on Thursday, December 7 at 7:00 p.m. Saint Elizabeth (6-2 overall, 2-1 United East-Skye Division) will travel to Bryn Athyn College for its next game on Saturday, December 9 at 1:00 p.m.
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