Junior forward Cherie Parisi (South Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) netted a season high 27 points to lead the Mount Ida College women's basketball team past visiting Albertus Magnus College in the back end of today's double header action winning 73-57 Saturday afternoon on senior day. The Mustangs improve to 9-14, 3-7 in the GNAC while the Falcons drop to 7-15, 2-9 in conference competition.
The visitors led in the opening four ticks up 6-1 on a jumper by junior Krystal Bryant (New Haven, CT/Career). The advantage would not last very long while the Mustangs powered a charge taking the 10-8 lead with 13:21 to go in the half.
It remained close for the next couple of possessions with the scoring knotting twice in five minutes of play. Mount Ida took over going ahead by six on a Brittany Dolloff (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline) jumper up 21-15 at the four minute mark.
The Falcons surged in the final minutes of play to regain the advantage up 22-21 after a trifecta by junior Kendra Dowen (Montpelier, CT/Montpelier). The Mustangs eventually reclaimed the lead and headed into the locker room up 25-23.
At the 16:42 mark in the beginning of the second half, the visitors snatched the advantage away from the hosts on another three pointer, this time by Gia Paturzo (North Haven, CT/North Haven), up 27-26. It was a short lived glimmer of hope for the Falcons while Mount Ida powered up and went on a 9-1 run to pull ahead by 10 (40-30) following a Parisi jumper.
The Mustangs kept a far enough distance from their opponents for the next five minutes with both teams exchanging baskets. The hosts maintained all the momentum going ahead by 13 on another Parisi lay-in up 54-43 with five minutes to go in the game.
Mount Ida's lead stayed at double digits for the rest of the game with no answer from the Falcons. The Mustangs eventually finished off the visitors leading by a game high 16 points winning 73-57 good for their third conference victory of the season and keeping their playoff hopes alive. The officiating was atrocious calling a combined 52 fouls between the squads.
Along with Parisi, the Mustangs had two other players in double figures. Freshman Hannah Blum (Raleigh, NC/Broughton) notched 12 points and nine rebounds while junior Nicole Casimiro (Lee, NH/Oyster River) scored 11 with four assists.
The Falcons were led by four players in double digits with Paturzo leading her pack with 14 points and three assists. Bryant, Dena Mentel (Dover, NH/Dover), and Nikki McClease (New Haven, CT/Wilbur Cross) combined for 33 points and 29 boards with Bryant and McClease both tallying double-doubles.
The Mustangs will head to downtown Boston and face GNAC number one ranked Emmanuel College this coming Thursday night staring at 7:00 p.m.