Gwynedd Valley, PA – The #6-seeded Rosemont Ravens (13-13) gave the host #3-seeded Gwynedd Mercy Griffins (17-9) all they could handle this evening, but the Griffins pulled away from the Ravens in the final few minutes of the game to claim a 71-60 win over Rosemont in the Quarterfinal round of the CSAC Championship Tournament.
The Ravens opened up the game with the momentum, holding Gwynedd Mercy from taking the lead until a three-pointer from the Griffins gave the hosts their first lead, 13-12 with 13:56 left in the half. The two teams would tussle in a very close game through much of the remainder of the half. With Rosemont trailing 17-14 and 10:06 on the clock, the Ravens crafted a 13-4 run to give themselves a six-point cushion, leading 27-21 with 2 ½ minutes left in the half. Gwynedd Mercy would whittle that lead back down to two points, 27-25, when a jumper from Olivia Crenny and a last-second jumper by Jasmyn Parker gave the Ravens momentum heading into the locker room, leading 31-25 at the break.
Ahead 33-29, Rosemont would put together a 5-0 spurt on a three-point play by Nymira Nelson and a Liz Coyne jumper to give the Ravens their largest lead of the game, 38-29 with 18:09 on the clock. From that point the home side would put together a 7-0 run of their own to get back to within two points of Rosemont, 38-36 with 14:51 left.
A Liz Coyne jumper temporarily stopped the Griffins' momentum, but Gwynedd Mercy scored the next five points to grab a 41-40 lead with 11:51 on the clock. Over the next six minutes the teams could not shake each other, staying within one possession of each other. Two free throws from Coyne would give Rosemont a 51-50 lead with 5:46 on the clock but the momentum started to switch over to Gwynedd Mercy when Kelsey Yorey grabbed back a two point lead for the Griffins, 53-51, with 5:21 left.
Yorey's bucket was part of a 10-2 stretch put together by Gwynedd Mercy to enable them to grab a 60-53 lead with 2:06 remaining. Still trailing by seven points with 54 ticks left, the Ravens refused to quit. Carly Hislop scored from outside the arc to get the Ravens back to within four points, 62-58 with 47 seconds left. Another clutch layup, this time from Nymira Nelson kept Rosemont within four points, 64-60 with 40 seconds showing, but those would be the final points that the Ravens would score for the season, as Gwynedd Mercy would run out the clock at the foul line, scoring the last seven points to lead to the final score.
The game was tightly played until the very end with six tie scores and the lead changing a total of 17 times (nine times in the second half).
Liz Coyne would end her collegiate career with her 18th double-double of the season, scoring 23 points, including shooting 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed 12 rebounds to lead both teams in scoring and rebounding on the night.
The Ravens had a strong supporting cast for Coyne this evening as Kierra Smith scored 12 with seven boards. Nymira Nelson scored 10 with six assists. Olivia Crenny proved to be a handy player off the bench, scoring eight and shooting 3-for-6 from the field, making both free throw attempts.
The Griffins had five players hit double-digits, with three earning double-doubles. Olivia Bradford and Charlotte Kucowski eadch scored 18 with 10 reboundes. Natasha Matthews notched her double-double by scoring 12 with 10 rebounds. Kelsey Yori scored 13 with six assists and Dee Terry added 10 points for the home side.
With the win, Gwynedd Mercy will advance to the Semifinal round of the CSAC Championship Tournament when they travel to face #2-seeded Immaculata on Wednesday night.
