Feb. 22, 2007

Gwynedd Valley, PA. - The Neumann College women's basketball team took on the number one seed Gwynedd Mercy College Griffins in the semi-finals of the P.A.C. women's basketball tournament. Head Coach Frank Farnese outlined the challenges his team would face before the game, "They are a mature group of basketball players. They play a style that fits their personality and it will challenge us to be aggressive, courageous and strong," For the first 16 minutes the Knights were up to the challenge.

Using an aggressive zone defense and a deliberate offense Neumann stayed on pace with Gwynedd until the four minute mark of the first half. With the score 25-24 in favor of the Griffins the Knights began to force the ball down the court and subsequently turned it over. A handful of turnovers and defensive fouls gave Gwynedd the opportunity to push the score to 32-24 with a minute in the first half. One series of plays summed up the first half for Neumann when freshmen forward Brittany Whetts was fouled and went to the line to shoot two free throws. Whetts missed both foul shots; Gwynedd grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball quickly up court. Whett's counterpart, freshmen Dominique Thompson fouled Gwynedd in transition. The Griffins hit the two foul shots and went into half-time leading 34-24. Gwynedd ended the first half on a 9-0 run.

The second half did not get off to a great start for the Knights. The Knights turned the ball over on back to back possessions and the Griffins hit back to back 3 pointers. Another Neumann foul and Gwynedd went to the foul line to shoot two free throws making both completing an 8-0 run and putting Gwynedd up 40-24.

The Knights were able to settle down after that but the damage was done. Coach Farnese directed the team to make a run of their own and they did. The Knights battled back to a ten point deficit of 51-41 at the 13 minute mark with a chance to cut the lead to 8 or 7 but could not finish their shot in transition and turned the ball over again. Gwynedd took possession raced down court and converted the layup.

Neumann was led by freshmen forward Brittany Whetts. Whetts led the Knights with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Griffins were able to dominate the boards gaining the a 52-35 rebounding advantage while also getting to the foul line 43 times converting 28 of those opportunities. In his post-game interview Coach Farnese explained his feelings, "This was a tough game. The team played well and kept their poise. We got down but we never gave up and for that I am proud of them. I thought Kim's leadership was excellent and I thought our young players showed they weren't going to back down." The Knights will wait to see if an ECAC bid comes their way early next week.