Philadelphia, PA- The Philadelphia University
Lady Rams (7-9, 5-3 CACC) fell into a hole early against the
visiting University of the Sciences Devils (7-7, 4-4 CACC) at the
Gallagher Athletic Center on Tuesday evening. A late
second-half rally by the Lady Rams wasn't enough as the Devils held
off PhilaU, 71-64.
Tuesday's game marked the return of Tom
Shirley's former assistant coach Paul Stadelberger.
Stadelberger worked as an assistant coach under Shirley at PhilaU
for 20 years before taking the head coaching spot at USP prior to
this season. Also on the bench for USP was Shirley's daughter
Kristen Shirley (PhilaU '06), in her first year as an assistant
coach at USP.
PhilaU senior forward Kate Brennan (Stratford,
NJ/ Sterling) and sophomore center Christine
Wooding (Northfield, NJ/ Mainland) each scored 13 points
to lead the Lady Rams. Brennan led PhilaU on the boards with nine
rebounds.
USP's Erin Chesnavich sparked the Devils with 19 points before
leaving the game with an ankle injury with just over a minute to
play.
USP jumped out to a 10-0 advantage at the start of the first
half, building upon their lead throughout the first 20 minutes of
play. With 4:19 remaining in the half, PhilaU trailed by 26 points,
39-13. The Lady Rams struggled from the floor in the half, shooting
just 19%. Meanwhile, USP knocked down 53% from the floor and 63%
from behind the arc.
At the start of the second half, PhilaU took the opening
possession trailing, 41-23. The Lady Rams fared better from the
floor in the second half, connecting on 43% of their shoots. The
Lady Rams ended the night hitting 34% from the floor.
As the Lady Rams offense began to percolate, their pressure
defense bedeviled USP, forcing the Devils into 11 turnovers in the
half.
PhilaU cut into the Devils' lead, going on an 8-2 run, and
trailed, 64-55, with 6:53 to play. Although PhilaU outscored USP by
a margin of 9-7 for the reminder of the game, but the distance on
the scoreboard was too much for the Lady Rams to overcome.
PhilaU returns to action on Thursday (1/28/10) at Concordia
College for a 6 p.m. Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC)
contest.
