CRESSON, Pa. – Shenandoah University continued its strong start to its women's basketball season with a 78-53 non-league victory at Mount Aloysius Wednesday evening.
Shenandoah (6-2) built a six-point lead after one and continued to build upon that advantage before erupting for a 25-point fourth quarter to complete the rout in its first-ever meeting with the Mounties (0-8).
IN BRIEF
SU shot a sizzling 8-of-9 from the field (89 percent) in the final stanza to help expand its lead by an additional 10 points.
Coach
Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft's club led 19-13 after one, 37-24 at the break, and 53-38 heading into the fourth.
A 16-0 run from the 1:12 mark of the first to the 5:47 mark of the second broke a 13-13 tie and gave Shenandoah the lead for good.
Shawnise Campbell gave the visitors a 10-point, 23-13, with a jumper 44 seconds into the second quarter and the Hornets kept that advantage in double digits for all but two minutes the rest of the way.
After MAC threatened to make a game of it by scoring 10 of the initial 13 points of the third, SU responded by closing out the quarter with a 13-4 run of its own to re-establish control.
Shenandoah then sealed the victory with a 17-8 run to start the fourth. This gave the Hornets a 24-point, 70-46, lead with 4:34 to play. The gap ballooned to 28 points before SU coasted home to the 25-point triumph.
Kayla Maxson had a team-high 16 points off the bench with
Terese Greene adding 14 and
Maggie Rooklin 10.
Greene also led the visitors on the boards with six. SU outrebounded the Mounties, 36-25.
In its six wins this season, the Hornets have outscored their opponents by an average of 33.7 points and has four victories of at least 25 points. Wednesday's win was also the 97
th of head coach
Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft's career.
Smeltzer-Kraft could become just the second head coach in program history to reach the 100-victory mark as early as New Year's Eve in a 1 p.m. non-league contest at Mary Washington.
UP NEXT
Shenandoah returns home Saturday for a 2 p.m. ODAC contest versus Averett University.
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