ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College women's basketball team shot a blistering 65 percent from the floor in the first quarter as they jumped out to a double digit lead over Delaware Valley and never looked back in an 84-59 victory over the Aggies to advance to Sunday's championship game of the Yonnie Kauffman Blue Jay Tournament.
Summer McNulty had a team-high 15 points for the Blue Jays as 12 different players scored for Etown.
McNulty hit a pair of threes in the opening minutes for Elizabethtown (8-0) as they raced out to an 8-0 lead over the first three minutes of play.
Cyleigh Wilson also hit a three in the first as the Jays finished 3-for-6 on shots beyond the arc in the first.
Cass Peris closed out the quarter with an offensive board and put back to make it 33-9 with 21 left.
Lindsay Boyd and Wilson got Etown going in the second to give their team a 25-point lead. Delaware Valley (6-5) held the Jays scoreless over nearly four and a half minutes until McNulty's jumper ended the drought.
Later in the second,
Makenna Mummert found
Clare Marchese for two of her nine points off the bench on a cross court feed that resulted in a layup. Marchese tied her career high with nine points and Mummert had a season-high eight points off the bench for Elizabethtown. In total, the Blue Jays' bench outscored Del Val 40-14 in bench points as 12 players got in on the scoresheet by game's end.
With less than a minute to go before the half, two of
Allyia Kennedy's six came on a putback after she grabbed the offensive rebound and went back up for two. Marchese dished to Kennedy with time winding down and the freshman was able to beat the buzzer to send Etown into the locker room ahead 54-21.
The starters got some run to begin the third quarter and Boyd, McNulty, and
DaniRae Renno helped build the lead to near 40 points. Back-to-back layups for Renno inside gave Etown a 37-point lead, 62-25, a little over two minutes into the third. Wilson had assists on consecutive baskets for the Jays midway through the quarter as she helped set up
Jessica King and McNulty for their buckets.
Kaeli Romanowski found Marchese for the layup and then her steal on the Aggies' next possession led to Kennedy's layup on the fastbreak. The Blue Jays still led big after the third despite Delaware Valley shooting near 70 percent in the quarter (9-for-13).
Georgia Panopoulos had the first points of the fourth for Etown, banking in her jumper from the left wing. Kennedy, who had the assist on Panopoulos' jumper then found
Ellie Fasick for her layup on the next possession. Fasick also had a season high with nine points, including her and-one. She had seven of the team's nine points in the fourth and had a team-best eight rebounds.
McNulty and Renno combined for 29 points for Elizabethtown. Maisie Neuber had a game-high 18 for the Aggies.
The women's basketball team will face Washington & Lee, winners over York (Pa.) in the first game of the day, for the tournament title tomorrow at 4 p.m.
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