Owens Powers Wesley Past GMC
GWYNNED VALLEY, Pa. - Angie Owens (Seaford, Del./Seaford) had 17 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks and four steals as Wesley College advanced to the semifinals with a win over Gwynned-Mercy in the ECAC South Championship Tournament.
In the process the sophomore center became the first Wolverines (16-12) to grab at least 300 rebounds in a season.
Wesley will now travel to Manhattanville as the Valiants dipatched Centenary (N.J.) 79-71 at home.
Allison Beddia (New Castle, Del./Delcastle) returned to the lineup and combined for 13 points with Shavonda Cephas (Milford, Del./Milford ), who was making her first career start, during a 15-4 run to open the game.
Wesley still led by nine, 23-14, after a lay up by Beddia with 7:11 left in the half. But after Jackie Dooley made a lay up, Kristy Cramp hit back-to-back threes followed by consecutive field goals by Lauren Rosar for a 26-23 Griffin (19-9) lead less than three minutes later.
Two threes by Colleen Thomas (Howell, N.J./Howell) and a bucket by Owens swung the lead back to Wesley, 31-26, with 2:11 left. But Gwynned-Mercy scored the final six points of the half to claim a 32-31 halftime lead.
Beddia scored the first four points of the second half as Wesley reclaimed the lead on a pair of free throws just 14 seconds into the period. The Wolverines remained in control until Rosar hit connected on a pair of free throws for a 57-56 lead with 7:40 to go in the game.
The Griffins clung to the lead for over four minutes, but could not build a lead larger than four points after Kristin McGrath gave GMC a 61-57 lead with 5:57 to go. But Wesley turned up the defense and limited the Griffins to just one point for the remainder of the game, forcing the opposition to go 0-of-8 from the floor down the stretch.
The Wolverines, however, still trailed by two with 1:37 to play before Thomas stole the ball and hit a three 12 seconds later to put the Wolverines on top 63-62. Michele Mules (York, Pa./Susquehannock) iced the game with her only three of the game with 34 seconds left on the clock.
Thomas matched Owens with 17 points and hit five threes in the game to go along with three steals. Beddia hit 5-of-8 field goals on the evening and scored 14 points, grabbed six boards and dished out three assists. Cephas hit three threes on her way to 11 points and also snagged seven rebounds.
Cory Boyd (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant) dished out 11 assists.
Rosar overcame a 3-of-10 shooting effort by hitting 10-of-12 free throws. She led the Griffins with 16 points and added 10 rebounds.
She was the lone GMC player in double digits as Wesley limited the Griffins to just 31 percent shooting, including 23 percent in the second half.
In addition to the wins by Wesley and Manhattanville, top-seeded Albright was upended by Juniata 77-56. Fourth-seeded Alvernia cruised to an 88-66 win over Neumann, meaning Juniata will travel to the Crusaders in the other semifinal on March 7.
