Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Trailing by only five points with 2:22 left in the game, the Susquehanna women's basketball squad could not complete its comeback, falling 62-50 at home to Wilkes on Saturday afternoon.

SU (2-6) was led in scoring by Gina Palazzi's (Newfoundland, Pa./Wallenpaupack) 14 points and career-high 18 rebounds. The senior also chipped in three assists, one block and one steal. Jonaida Williams (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Twp.) added 11 points for the Crusaders who did out-rebound the Colonels (6-2) by a 57-45 margin.

Wilkes, however, had 23 points from Elena Stambone and the team shot 33 percent from the floor while holding SU to a 24.6 percent effort. Points off turnovers also went in favor of the Colonels, who had 15 to the Crusaders' one, with that one point coming in the first half.

Despite being down by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Crusader women were able to make it a single-digit game (29-20) at halftime. The game started out close with SU staying within one (6-5) less than four minutes into the game.

Midway through the half, Susquehanna was still down by just five (12-7) but 90 seconds later, the Colonels took their first double-digit lead of the afternoon, 17-7, after an Ellen Rich jumper. The Crusaders remained down by double figures until there was 4:17 left in the half when an Eleni Dimou (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) free throw made it 24-15.

It was a nine-point game at halftime after Wilkes' Elena Stambone sank two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it 29-20 in favor of the Colonels.

Five minutes into the second period, two Candence Cannady (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet) free throws made it a six-point game (34-28) and two more Cannady free throws at the 13:29 mark brought that lead down to just three, 34-31.

However, Wilkes countered with a 12-2 run that took six minutes off the clock and made it 46-33. The Crusaders kept chipping away at the lead, though, and were able to trim that lead to five (50-45) on a Williams trey with 3:44 on the clock.

Twice Susquehanna was able to again bring the lead back to five, but two Stambone layups and five Stambone free throws over the remaining 1:14 of action prevented the Crusaders from pulling closer than five points.

The Crusaders close out their three-game homestand on Dec. 17 with a 6 p.m. game against Pitt-Bradford.