DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Freshman forward Liz Briones (San Antonio, Texas) connected on 9 of 12 shots, en route to a game-high 20 points as the Catholic University women's basketball team won its sixth straight game with a 67-54 win over Wentworth at the 2010 Daytona Beach Shootout.
The Cardinals scored the game's first six points with Briones scoring four of the six. Catholic extended its lead to as many as nine (18-9) with 9:37 left in the first half before the Leopards got a three pointer from sophomore guard Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) and a basket from junior guard Meagan Pennock (Littleton, N.H.) to cut the lead to 18-14 with 8:50 left.
Catholic used a 12-0 run over the next four and a half minutes to take a 30-14 lead on a basket from freshman guard Emily Grabiak (Haddonfield, N.J.). During the run, Grabiak had four points, while Briones chipped in with a basket. The Cardinals would lead by 13 at the break, 35-22. Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the floor, with the Cardinals connecting on 36.4 percent of their shots and the Leopards 35.0 percent. Twenty first-half turnovers by Wentworth led to 21 Catholic points.
An 8-1 run to open the second half by Catholic extended the lead to 20 as sophomore guard Jill Woerner (Providence, R.I.) had four of her team's eight points. The Leopards countered with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 11 (47-36) when freshman forward Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) sank a pair of free throws with 11:53 left.
Leading by 11 with 11:27 left, Catholic used a 9-2 run to up the lead back to 20 with 8:51 left in the contest. The lead would get as high as 21 with 5:35 to play before Wentworth used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 63-52 on a senior Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) basket with 3:00 remaining. However, that would be as close as the Leopards would get as Wentworth mustered just a pair of free throws over the final 3:00.
Sophomore guard Mary McGann (York, Pa.) added 13 points for the Cardinals, while senior guard Kerri Confrey (Pearl River, N.Y.) had eight points and seven rebounds. Woerner had six points to go along with six steals.
Vallone recorded her sixth double-double in Wentworth's 10 games to date, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Kerr went a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, en route to 12 points, while Pennock added 11 points. Freshman forward Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) hauled down a career-high eight rebounds. Vallone was also named Wentworth's all-tournament team selection.
With the win, Catholic improves to 7-1 and finishes up play at the Daytona Beach Shootout on Tuesday against Luther. Wentworth drops its second straight to see its record even out at 5-5 and is idle until Jan. 4 when the Leopards travel to the Maine Maritime Holiday Tournament where they will play Maine-Fort Kent in the first round.
