WOMEN'S HOOP DROPS TWO IN CALIFORNIA WINTER CLASSIC

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team suffered two losses during the Saints' winter break trip to California.  Emmanuel fell to University of California Santa Cruz on Sunday, 72-55, and to Scranton University in a heated, 50-46, battle on Monday night.  Senior forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) was named to the All-Tournament Team for Emmanuel, after averaging 22 points and 8 rebounds over the two contests.

The second day of the Posada Royale Winter Classic saw two wild games as Scranton escaped with a 50-46 come-from-behind victory over Emmanuel, while Cal Lutheran gutted out a hard-fought 66-58 victory over UC Santa Cruz Monday afternoon in Gilbert Arena. Cal Lutheran went 2-0 in the tournament while UC Santa Cruz and Scranton finished 1-1. Emmanuel went 0-2.

Scranton overcame a 13-point second half deficit and then held on for the wild four-point victory. The Lady Royals took control of the board after hitting three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Noelle Alicea and Jaclyn Gantz, brining the score to 42-38.  That was just the start of the fireworks, however, as O'Dwyer would score six-straight points on three consecutive possessions as the Saints' reclaimed the lead.  Scranton would tie and then retake the lead a minute later after hitting a pair of free-throws, up by one at 47-46.

With Scranton leading 48-46, the teams duked it out over the final minute an half before Emmanuel sophomore forward Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) stole the ball with 25 seconds to go and hit teammate Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Me.) for what appeared to be an easy go-ahead lay-up, but the Saints couldn't convert as and the ball went out of bounds.

On the ensuing in-bounds pass, there was a scrum for the ball with Mikulanecz coming up with it at the bottom of the pile. The sophomore guard quickly called timeout, unaware that the Saints were out of timeouts. The result was a technical foul and Scranton was awarded two free-throws and possession of the ball.  Christina Hiltunen hit both free-throws for Scranton and the Lady Royals would run out the clock and escape with a 50-46 victory.

The Lady Royals were paced by Tayler Pallotta's 11 points. Shernai Bentley had nine rebounds and seven steals. Fluehr chipped in with seven points and six assists.

Enmmanuel was led by O'Dwyer's 21 points and eight rebounds. Liz Daley (Sharon, Mass.) finished second with nine points, while Bujnowski had 10 rebounds to go along with her six points.  With the win, Scranton improves to 10-3 overall, while Emmanuel drops to 8-3 on the year.

POSADA ROYALE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Fiona O'Dwyer - Emmanuel

Lindsay Fluehr - Scranton

Sarah Mackey - UC Santa Cruz

Geena Giovannetti - UC Santa Cruz

Channing Fleischmann - Cal Lutheran

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER - Starla Wright- Cal Lutheran

-Release courtesy of California Lutheran Sports Information