SCRANTON – The Misericordia University women’s basketball team has been effective in putting off its first defeat of the season in its four years under head coach Jason Rhine.
The Cougars carried their unbeaten mark through nine games this season until running into the nation’s second-ranked National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III team in Thursday night’s championship game of the Hilton Scranton Poinsettia Classic.
The all-tournament performance of Erica Haefele and the continued emergence of Lake-Lehman graduate Madison Borum were not enough as Misericordia’s streak came to an end when the University of Scranton protected its own perfect record with a 75-57 victory.
The Cougars reached the national rankings themselves last season when they won their first 16 on the way to a 23-6 season. They won the first three games in 2016-17 when they went 19-9 in Rhine’s first season as head coach.
“I have a lot of respect for the job that Jason is doing down there,” Scranton coach Nick DiPillo said. “They have some really talented players in that program. They’re going to continue to get better.
“As evidenced by the start they’ve gotten off to, they’re doing things the right way there.”
Scranton’s pressure defense made sure Misericordia could not get off to a good start Thursday night. The Lady Royals forced 11 first-quarter turnovers and held the Cougars to eight points for almost 15 minutes while building a 15-point lead.
Haefele, a junior from Mid Valley, hit two 3-pointers and Tessa Zamolyi made one in the next two minutes to get within 28-19.
The second 3-pointer by Haefele got the deficit out of double digits for the only 19 seconds the Cougars were that close in the game’s final 29:34.
Haefele and Zamolyi finished with 13 points each.
Rhine acknowledged that Scranton’s move to full-court pressure midway through the first quarter had his team “rattled” and 30 total turnovers kept the Cougars from developing enough offensive consistency.
“We really wanted to slow them up a little bit,” Rhine said. “I feel like we did our job defensively. We just didn’t do our job taking care of the ball.”
Borum, a 6-foot-2 freshman post player, scored in double figures for the third time in the last five games. She went 5-for-6 from the floor to finish with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists in just 14 minutes.
After missing the season opener with a broken hand suffered in preseason practice, Borum played just 21 total minutes in her first three games. She has been becoming an increasing factor in the team’s inside game since.
“She was practicing so well for us, then all of a sudden we heard this commotion at practice,” Rhine said. “She fell and hurt her hand. But, she’s getting there now.
“I’m excited about her future because she, like the rest of them, has such a high potential.”
Borum is shooting 55.6 percent from the floor while averaging 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game.
“The biggest thing is moving her feet on defense because of foul trouble,” Rhine said.
Misericordia reached the tournament final with an 85-76 victory over Salisbury State (Md.) Wednesday.
Zamolyi led the way with 30 points and six rebounds. Haefele went 5-for-7 on 3-pointers while scoring 16. Emma Hayes added 11.
Zamolyi, a junior from Bethlehem Catholic, is averaging 18.8 points and 12.6 rebounds.
The Cougars are off until Jan. 4 when they host Lebanon Valley and don’t travel again until Jan. 15.
They open Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play Jan. 8 against Wilkes then host FDU-Florham three days later in another conference game.
