Catholic U. conquers Griffins in home debut

by TOM UTESCHER

Chestnut Hill College's women's hoop squad burdened itself with a difficult task for its home opener last Tuesday, taking on a well-established Division III program from Washington D.C., Catholic University.

Trailing 38-25 at the half, the host Griffins pulled back within seven points of the leaders early in the second period, but the Cardinals then pulled away smartly en route to a 73-48 victory.

Chestnut Hill's performance was punctuated by seven-for-13 shooting from the floor by junior Bethanne Castone, who led all scorers with 17 points on the night. Forward Kate Quintus came off the bench to score eight points, and the sophomore from Nazareth Academy led all rebounders in the game, with 11 grabs. The setback resulted in a 1-1 record for the locals, who had opened their season on November 20 with a victory over Baptist Bible in Clarks Summit, PA.

Leading the scoring for Catholic, with 15 points was Gloria Schnepp, a junior forward out of Upper Dublin High School, and the Cardinals received 14 points from another Delaware Valley native, Anne Maguire of Mt. Laurel, NJ. Haley Jones and Jane Maybury led the visitors on the boards with ten rebounds apiece.

With Castone and Amy Ciaburri pacing the Griffins' offense, Chestnut Hill was only down 12-11 seven minutes into the contest, then a three-pointer and a smattering of lay-ups gave the visitors their first double-digit lead of the night, at 21-11. The hosts answered with a 9-3 spurt that included a three-ball and an inside score by sophomore Keara Clauss (Plymouth Whitemarsh), but Catholic went on another run to build up a 13-point halftime cushion.

The Cardinals moved the ball from the perimeter to the paint adeptly ( and vice versa), catching the Griffs off-guard on occasion to set up open "three's" and back-door lay-ups.

Battling inside to tally off of the rebound of her own shot, Chestnut Hill sophomore Andrea Carter opened the scoring in the second half, and jumpers by Castone and Judy Parise and a transition lay-up by Kelly McGrath fleshed out an 8-2 surge for CHC, tightening the score to 40-33.

With the period now about four minutes old, Catholic embarked on a decisive 19-1 run that upped the count to 59-34 with nine minutes to go, and this was a blow from which the Griffins could not recover. Although Chestnut Hill's shooters were actually more accurate on field goal attempts, 38 to 33 percent, the Cardinals got off a total of 87 shots to CHC's 52. On most of their possessions, a strong effort on the boards gave the visitors multiple opportunities to score. Overall, they outrebounded the Griffins 56-46, and on the offensive glass the difference was dramatic, 28-12.

CHC's Carter and Clauss ended up with six and five points, respectively, and Ciaburri, McGrath, and Parise added four apiece.