Fortna finished the night 7-for-22 from the floor and a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line. Knarr was the only other Alvernia player to reached double figures with 10. Marywood (9-14, 5-9 PAC) got a team-high 23 points from Amanda Lass (Brackney, PA/Montrose) and 14 from Caity Hadzimichalis (Phillipsburg, NJ/Belvidere).
Scoring was hard to come by over the first five minutes with Alvernia holding a 7-2 lead as the clock passed 15:00. Freshman guard Joanna Graber (Manalapan, NJ/Notre Dame) hit a 3 to open the scoring, Fortna a pair of free throws, and sophomore Tenay Gaddy (LaPlata, MD/McDonough) scored on a layup. Alvernia started the game 2-for-8 from the field and committed three turnovers in the first five minutes.
Marywood took control for a brief period running off a 10-2 streak to take a 12-9 lead with 12:45 left on the first half clock. Freshman center Eileen Dopart (Rahway, NJ/Union Catholic) started the run for the guests and led them with four of the 10 points.
Fortna knocked down her first 3 of the half to knot the score at 12-12 and Alvernia ran off 15 of the next 20 for a 27-17 lead with 6:02 left in the half. The lead grew to 13 points, 32-19, with 3:31 left in the half, but Marywood closed the half with 11 of the final 13 points to cut the gap to four, 34-30, at the break.
Fortna, who started 1-for-6, scored 16 points in the opening half on four 3s and four free throws. Lass led all scorers with 17 points at the break and had seven rebounds.
Alvernia sophomore Michelle Lutzkanin (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin), who finished with nine points, hit back-to-back 3s during a decisive 11-2 second-half run that turned a six-point lead in a 15-point bulge with 11:09 to play. Fortna closed the run with a 3-point play and three minutes later hit a pair of free throws to surpass her previous career-high of 26 set earlier this year versus York College.
Fortna’s second free throw at 8:22 gave Alvernia a 17-point lead and the cushion remained a dozen or more for the remainder of play.
Alvernia will hit the road for its final two regular season games at Misericordia and Eastern next week before the PAC Championship begins the following week.
Alvernia 76, Marywood 62