Cavaliers win CSAC Women's Basketball Championship
BOX SCORE
RADNOR, Pa.: Top-seeded Cabrini College captured the 2012-13 Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball championship with a 49-38 victory over Gwynedd-Mercy College.
Annie Rivituso (pictured below) earned game MVP honors, as the Cabrini forward scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. She was one of two scorers in double figures for the Cavaliers, as
Brittany Sandone bucketed 14, nailing four three-pointers. It marks the first conference championship for Cabrini head coach
Kate Pearson, and the Cavaliers' first title since winning two straight in 2007-08 and '08-09.
The game was a defensive battle from the outset, as the teams combined for just 20 points, with
Cabrini
leading 11-9, over the first 11 minutes of the opening half. The Griffins brought it to within four, 18-14, with two minutes left in the half, before Cabrini scored the final five points of the half, capped off with a
Megan Decker jumper at the buzzer, to lead 23-14.
Over the first 20 minutes, the teams combined for just 13 field goals, with Cabrini shooting 8-for-32 (5-for-16 on three-point attempts) compared to a 5-for-25 mark from Gwynedd-Mercy.
Cabrini seized the momentum coming out of halftime, embarking on a 16-8 run over the first nine minutes of the second half to push its lead to 39-22 with just over 11 minutes left in regulation. The prolonged run proved too much for Gwynedd-Mercy to overcome, as the Griffins would get to within no closer than 11 points over the remainder of the game.
Gwynedd-Mercy was led by forward
Shea Wassel, who posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Fellow forward
Natasha Matthews scored nine points for the Griffins, who end the season with an 18-9 overall record.
The victory extends Cabrini's winning streak to 19 games, and improves the Cavaliers' record to 24-3. Cabrini now earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division-III National Tournament, which is slated to begin next weekend. The Cavaliers will learn their first round opponent on Monday afternoon.