SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Arcadia University women's basketball senior forward
Valerie DiMuro led all players with eight rebounds to break the program's all-time record. The Tappan, N.Y. native currently sits at 703 career boards passing Becky Soda's mark of 699. Her 20 points led all scorers as the Knights claimed a 59-46 decision over Division II Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. With the win the Arcadia sits at 6-5 on the season.
DiMuro wasted no time getting started on her day as she opened the game's scoring on a put back layup 37 seconds in. Over the game's first four plus minutes, DiMuro and rookie
Olivia Roseman combined for the first eight points of the contest. After
Morgan Phillips put the Knights up by a 10-2 margin with 3:10 to go in the opening frame, the Gallitos pieced together a 10-0 spurt to tie the game at 12 with 34 ticks left in the period. The Knights led 14-12 following a jumper from DiMuro to end the frame.
A second quarter-opening 7-0 run highlighted by a
Morgan Wensley three put the Scarlet and Grey up by nine at 21-12 just shy of two minutes into the period. The hosts climbed back to as close as four in the stanza before a Phillips three and a DiMuro lay-in helped the Knights regain a nine point advantage at 30-21 with three minutes to go until the break. The Knights held a 32-25 lead at the break.
A dozen points from DiMuro on 6 of 10 shooting led all first half scorers while her three rebounds tied her with Roseman and
Camille Menns for the team lead. The Scarlet and Grey shot 50% from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding their opponents to just a 32.1% conversion rate. Trixia Rosario led the Gallitos with five points in the half while Lizdania Marrero led all players with a half dozen rebounds.
It wouldn't be long before DiMuro broke Soda's record as the senior pulled in the record breaker following a missed layup by Zahira Montes 1:41 into the third quarter. The rookie duo of Menns and
Sammy Downham handed the Knights their largest lead of the contest as the former converted back-to back layups before the latter knocked down four consecutive free throws for a 46-32 lead with 2:31 to go in the third quarter. Scoring the last three points of the frame, the Gallitos pulled to a 46-37 score in favor of the Knights heading into the fourth.
The Scarlet and Grey pushed the lead back to a dozen at 49-37 in the first 40 seconds of the fourth quarter and cruised from there. Roseman knocked down a three with 2:28 to go for a 57-44 lead before DiMuro finished off the game's scoring with a layup with 1:23 left on the clock.
A combined 6 of 9 shooting from DiMuro, Roseman and Menns powered the Knights offense in the second half as the team shot 38.9% (7 of 18) in the final 20 minutes. Defensively, Arcadia held the hosts to a 33.3% field goal percentage in the half.
Roseman was the only other Knights to register double-figures as she went 6 of 9 from the floor for 14 points. Phillips turned a 3 of 4 shooting performance that included a perfect 2-2 from distance as she notched eight points. Menns matched DiMuro's eight rebounds to tie for the game-high. As a team, the Scarlet and Grey shot 45.7% from the field and 41.7% from three-point land.
Marrero led the Gallitos with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting, while leading the team with seven boards. As a team, the hosts shot just 32.7% from the floor.
The Knights return home to continue conference play on Saturday as they host Hood in a 1 p.m. contest.
