IMMACULATA, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (1-1) dropped a non-conference matchup to the Immaculata Mighty Macs (2-1) by a score of 70-56 on Wednesday evening at Alumnae Hall on the campus of Immaculata University.
The Mighty Macs used a 9-2 scoring run to jump out to an early lead in the first quarter. Immaculata went an impressive 4-for-5 from the field, with Tessa Liberatoscioli sinking the only three-pointer in the stretch. The hosts extended the lead out of the timeout, ending the opening stanza on a 7-4 scoring run to hold a 16-6 advantage heading into quarter number two. Shae Mercer, Siena Emuobor, and Abby Ryan all found nylon in the first 10 minutes, while Reese Mullins paced all scorers with eight early points for the Mighty Macs.
Mercer opened up the second quarter with a bang, splashing down a three-pointer to trim the Mighty Mac lead down to 16-9. However, an Abigail Boyer triple pushed the advantage back up to 19-9, before Brianna Feifer joined the three-point party by knocking down a trey to bring the deficit within seven points again at 19-12. Unfortunately for the Scarlet and Black, Immaculata went on a 6-0 scoring spurt that saw three different scorers find the bottom of the basket, eventually forcing a timeout by the Fords.
Haverford came out of the timeout on a mission, as Emuobor and Ryan found baskets inside the paint, while Feifer connected on a three-pointer to cut the lead down to 25-19 with 3:35 remaining in the first half. The Mighty Macs quickly closed out the half on a small 5-1 scoring run, as both teams headed into the halftime break with the hosts holding onto a 30-20 advantage.
The Fords shot 42.9 percent from behind the three-point line in the first 20 minutes of play, as Feifer led all Haverford scorers with six points. On the other end of the court, Mullins led not only Immaculata but all players on the floor in points with eight.
The Mighty Macs jumped out to a 8-2 scoring run to begin the second half, going 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the three-point land. Liberatoscioli hit a three to begin the third quarter followed by a layup from Mercer and a jump shot by Olivia Ettorre, before nailing another triple to force an early timeout from the Scarlet and Black, as the scoreboard flashed 38-22 with 7:45 to go in quarter number three.
Out of the brief discussion, Immaculata continued shooting the lights out, accumulating a 50 percent shooting percentage, as the Mighty Macs saw four different scorers contribute baskets.
The two teams battled neck-and-neck to round out the third quarter, as Ryan, Mercer, Audrey Jakway, and Emuobor, each put up two points in the remaining three minutes and chance. However, Immaculata matched the final eight points from the Fords, as the hosts held a significant 54-30 lead with just 10 minutes left on the clock.
The opening four minutes of the final quarter saw the Scarlet and Black outscore Immaculata 10-6, as Jakway immediately caught fire, dropping 10 straight points for the Fords, prompting Immaculata to call a timeout. Jakway put up seven more points for the Scarlet and Black to close out the game, but despite the scoring burst, the hosts still prevailed, defeating the Fords 70-53.
The Mighty Macs took advantage of making 47.4 percent of their shots from inside the paint and behind the three-point arc. Mullins had a massive game for Immaculata, finishing with 24 points to lead all scorers. For Haverford, a second-half offensive explosion by Jakway ascended the sophomore to the top of the scoring leaders, as the forward ended the game with a career-high 19 points.
Women's Basketball will continue a three-game road trip on Saturday, November 16, as the Fords will travel to Mahwah, N.J., to square off with the Roadrunners of Ramapo College. Tip-off for the non-conference bout is slated for 1 p.m.