The Cabrini women’s basketball team continued their recent hot streak on Wednesday, Feb. 12, beating visiting conference foe Marywood by a score of 65-40.
The Pacers struggled offensively all night, shooting less than 20% from the field and going 3-19 on three-point attempts. The third quarter was especially tough on the visitors, as they could muster all of four points, making only two of 15 shot attempts.
Junior guard Ashley Tutzauer led the way for the Cavaliers, scoring 18 points and adding three assists and three rebounds on the night. Classmate Kate Lannon was a heavy contributor as well, putting up 10 points and three rebounds herself in the win. While no one else scored in double figures, senior forward Meghan Matthews had a big night as well, pulling in 11 rebounds to go with three assists and a perfect six-for-six at the free-throw line.
The Cavaliers struck first on a Lannon three-pointer in the first minute and would lead the rest of the way. After Marywood forward Emily Theobald and Lannon traded layups, the Cavs broke out a 23-8 run, punctuated by a three-pointer from freshman guard Sydney Kesselman in the final seconds. After a back-and-forth second quarter, which featured a three-and-a-half minute stretch without a point from either side, Cabrini would take a 44-21 lead into the half.
The defense turned up the heat in the third quarter, keeping Marywood off the board entirely until there were just over two minutes to play in the period. With the game in hand in the fourth, the Cavs took the opportunity to rest the starters and get some other players on the floor, closing out a dominant 25-point victory.
“It was a good team win, any time when we have an opportunity to get out on our home court and get everybody on the court, it’s a positive,” head coach Kate Pearson said of the win.
With the win and Gwynedd Mercy‘s concurrent 85-50 loss at Marymount, the Cavaliers locked up a first round bye in the upcoming Atlantic East Conference tournament.
“After [last week’s 68-45 loss against] Marymount, we knew we had to bounce back really quick,” Tutzauer said. “That’s what we did against Gwynedd [a 107-88 win] and then here, so we’re going to carry that on into playoffs.”
The Cavaliers improve to 17-6 on the season and 9-1 in conference, putting them at second in the standings behind Marymount, also 9-1 but ahead on a tiebreaker. Marywood drops to 7-13 on the year and 3-6 in AEC competition.
“We’re trying to take it kinda one day at a time and make sure that we finish strong in our regular season to position ourselves as best as we can for the playoffs,” Pearson said. “What we’re doing is trying to challenge each other every day to make sure we have our best selves going into postseason play.”
“We feel confident going into playoffs,” Tutzauer said. “We have a chip on our shoulder from last year, but we think we can handle business this year.”
“It’s one of those bittersweets as you get to the end, you’re excited for postseason play but, I think this group likes being together so they want it to go as long as possible,” Pearson said.
The Cavaliers now take a week off ahead of a road trip to Dover, Delaware to take on the Wesley Wolverines, before returning home to face the Immaculata Mighty Macs on senior night on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.
