Alvernia (9-6, 7-1 PAC), which entered Saturday with a 33-0 record against Arcadia, found itself down by as many as 11 points in the first half and seven points early in the second. The Crusaders tied the score for the first time at 56-all with 4:30 to play when Kerry Higgs (Westminster, MD/Westminster) knocked down a pair of free throws. Arcadia’s Caitlin Sparks (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area), who was wrapping up 10 points in a row for the Knights (5-11, 3-5 PAC) followed with two free throws, which Knarr answered with a bucket.
Arcadia put together a 5-2 spurt for a three point lead with 1:53 to play, but Alvernia freshman Joanna Graber (Manalapan, NJ/Notre Dame) picked a good time for her only 3 of the day to tie the score prior to Knarr’s free throws. Higgs followed with two free throws and the Knights managed just one bucket over down the stretch as the Crusaders closed on a 10-2 run.
Higgs and fellow senior Lauren Fortna (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon Catholic) scored 16 points each to lead Alvernia. Knarr also reached double figures with 12 and freshman Janelle Richardson (Manor, DE/Delcastle) added 10 points and a career high four blocks. Arcadia got a team-high 16 points from Katie Lynch (Philadelphia, PA/Little Flower), 14 from Sparks, and 11 from Kim Milligan (Crofton, MD/South River).
Arcadia scored the first seven points of the game and opened up a 13-2 lead as the Crusaders managed just one bucket from junior Ashley Blevins (York, PA/Central York). Fortna started and ended a 12-3 run with 3s and the lead was down to three, 17-14. The lead stayed between three and nine points for the remainder of the half with the host Knights taking a 40-33 lead to the halftime break
Alvernia cut the lead down to one point a few times in the second half, but didn’t tie the score until Higgs’ free throws at 4:30. The Crusaders finished the day 21-of-24 from the free throw line while the Knights hit 19-of-25.
Alvernia returns home to face conference foe Misericordia in a women’s and men’s doubleheader on Monday starting at 6:00 p.m.
Alvernia 70, Arcadia 65