Ursinus Tops CHC in Summer League

by TOM UTESCHER

The Chestnut Hill College Griffins started sluggishly in last Wednesday’s contest in the NCAA women’s division of the Malvern summer league, falling behind Ursinus, 16-8, in the first nine minutes. The locals came back to make a game of it, but Ursinus scored the last four points of the night to pull out a 44-40 victory.

The Griffins’ line-up included many of the usual suspects, namely returning players such as seniors Bethanne Castone and Amy Ciaburri, juniors Andrea Carter, Keara Clauss, Kate Quintus, Judy Parise and Lindsey Tornetta, and sophomore Tara Walsh. The two new Griffins on hand were Aubrey Saylor, a Lansdale Catholic graduate who is transferring in from Kings College as a junior, and Marianne Finfrock, a freshman out of Haverford High School.

To help fill out the summer roster CHC snared a couple of players from other schools; Kay Binetti from Dickinson, and Eli Cook from Messiah College.

Tornetta kept CHC respectable with a pair of field goals at the start of Wednesday’s game, but some bulls-eyes from the three-point line helped the Lady Bears build up an eight-point lead. The Griffins allowed only one more basket from the arc the rest of the way, and climbed back into contention late in the first half.

Chestnut Hill was down 25-16 with less than three minutes remaining when Binetti scored off of an offensive rebound and drew a foul to boot. Her free throw missed, but the ball was rebounded and put back through the hoop by Ciaburri. After Carter banked in a short jumper, the period ended with CHC just three points behind the Bears, 25-22.

Over the first few minutes of the second half the Griffins slipped five points in back of the Bears, but then a three-pointer by Castone and a transition lay-up by Cooke tied it up at 29-all with 14:47 left to play.

After a pair of free throws by Saylor gave Chestnut Hill its only lead of the night, Ursinus answered with an 8-2 run.

With the clock sinking towards the two-minute mark and the Bears ahead by four points, two foul shots by Quintus and a baseline jumper by Castone tied it up one last time, at 40-40. Ursinus inched ahead by making one of two free throws, then went up by three on a lay-up with 40 seconds to go. Chestnut Hill missed a trey on its next possession, and the Bears picked up another point on the front end of a one-and-one. The Griffins fell short on another three-point try as the final ten seconds drained away.

Castone and Saylor led the locals with seven points each, while Carter, Quintus, Tornetta and Walsh added four apiece.