E'town Makes Comeback to Outlast Arcadia

Box Score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.: Commonwealth Conference Women's Basketball opened the second half of play Saturday afternoon and for the first time against a league opponent this season, Arcadia University played with the lead, for 29 minutes. However, leading by four with 7:30 to play, Arcadia watched as Elizabethtown College and the game's leading scorer Taylor Kreider went on an two-minute, 11-2 run in the games' closing minutes to retake the lead and win the contest 73-62.

Kreider, who scored the game's final five points, finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals. Taylor Alwine added 15 points and 8 boards for the Blue Jays who improve to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in Commonwealth play.

Leading the effort for the Knights (3-15, 0-8 CC) was junior Jackie Law, earning a double-double on 20 points and 10 rebounds while adding 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Sophomore Victoria Mazzeo scored 11 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots while senior Christine Taylor tallied 11 points with 7 boards and 3 assists.

E'town's Kendra Beitel scored the Blue Jays' first five points, giving the home team a 5-0 lead early on. Back and forth scoring, including buckets from Arcadia's Victoria Roukas and Law cut the Knight's deficit to two on two occassions, before Taylor nailed a three pointer knotting the game at 12-all at 13:41. The bucket proved to be a momentum buster for the Blue Jays. E'town's field goal at 10:26 that made it a 16-14 Arcadia advantage would be their last from the field until 3:57. Arcadia managed to cling to a four-point lead, and then went up by 7 when junior Angie Adams hit two from the line at 5:43 for a 24-17 Arcadia lead.

A three-point play in the paint from Mazzeo pushed the Knight's lead to 8, 33-25 with under two minutes before the half. Mazzeo added another with 1:23 to go and a 35-26 lead for the Knights but a three-point play in the paint from E'town's Alwine made it a seven point spread by the break with Arcadia still in front 36-29. Arcadia out-shot the Blue Jays 46% to 39% in the half fuled by 12 points from Law who finished 6 of 7 from the floor in the opening stanza.

Mazzeo hit for two again opening the second half with momentum still in Arcadia's hands. With Arcadia in front by nine, 38-29, the Blue Jays went to their go-to scorer for the afternoon as Kreider added two more buckets. Arcadia added three points at the free throw line but then a heads-up play in the paint from Kreider, a bucket and-one at the line at 14:51, kept the Blue Jays in the game, down only 5, 43-38. Roukas matched Kreider with her own three-point play at 13:21, a 46-39 Knight's lead and Law added two more to keep the Knight's lead at 8, 48-40. Then, the home team went on a little run that had big implications for Arcadia.

The Blue Jays hit 5 of 7 from the floor over the next three minutes to tie the game at 50-all with 8:20 to play. Arcadia would get two free throws from Adams and another jump shot from Law, managing to stay in front, but the Blue Jays were not backing down. In fact, they went on their biggest run of the game, out-scoring Arcadia 11-2 from 5:11 to 2:52. A bucket form Nadine Yunginger put E'town back on top 61-60 at 4:29 before Kreider capped the run with another of her game high 29 to put the Blue Jays in front by 8, their largest lead of the contest, leaving the Knights less than three minutes to work some magic. Two free throws from Law ended Arcadia's near three-minute scoring drought but Kreider continued to have her way, scoring the Blue Jays' final five points sealing the 73-62 victory.

Arcadia would finish shooting 32% from the floor and continued to struggle from distance, making 1 of 11 attempts from long-range. E'town shot 46% from the field and out-rebounded the Knights 46-39.

The Knights look to get back into the win column, hosting Alvernia University this Wednesday night at 6 PM. Wednesday's Commonwealth Conference doubleheader will feature a Pack The House Challenge for fans.

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