Scranton, Pa. - Marywood University built a 27-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of Saturday afternoon's Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball game and held on for a 65-50 victory over Keystone College. The Pacers improve to 16-7 on the season and 13-1 in league play while the Giants fall to 7-16 overall and 4-11 in the CSAC after suffering their seventh consecutive defeat.

Holding a 14-5 lead with 3:16 remaining in the first period of Saturday's contest, Marywood closed the opening stanza with a 13-1 run to claim the 21 point advantage at the first break. The Pacers pushed their lead to 23 points early in the second half before Keystone scored the next five points from the free throw line, to narrow their deficit to 33-18. The host netted the final six points of the frame to hold a 39-18 lead at halftime.

Gabrielle Giordano and Catie Nealon had five points apiece to lead Marywood's offense in the first half while Natasha Hessling pulled down four rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 42.9 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 5-13 from three-point range and 4-7 from the free throw line.

Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, NY/Paramus Catholic) paced Keystone with five points and four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play while Maddy Moro (Danville, PA/Danville Area) and Nina Hodanich (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) chipped in with four points apiece. Samantha Donahue (Taylor, PA/Riverside) dished out a pair of assists for the Giants, who connected on 20 percent of their attempts from the floor in the first two periods while going 1-8 from long distance and 7-12 from the charity stripe.

Marywood's run extended to 11-0 with the first five points on the third period before Keystone drew to within 44-24 at the 6:43 mark on an April Acosta (Bronx, NY/Evander Childs) jumper. The Pacers closed the frame with an 11-4 burst to hold a 55-28 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Despite trailing by 27 points entering the fourth quarter, the Giants battled until the very end and outscored Marywood 22-10 in the final period to cut the final deficit to 15 points.

Danielle Castellanos and Tara Steakin led a balanced offense for Marywood with nine points apiece while Alyssa Olson chipped in with eight points. Hessling finished with a team-best six rebounds for the Pacers, who held a slim, 41-39 advantage on the glass and were plus-three (15-18) in turnovers. The hosts finished the afternoon hitting on 37.5 percent of their shots from the floor while going 26.9 percent from downtown and 62.5 percent from the line.

Moro matched a career-high for Keystone with a game-best 14 points on a 6-9 showing from the floor and a 2-3 effort from the free throw line. Hall added nine points and led all players with five steals while Donahue also tallied nine points and tied for a game-high with three assists. Hodanich and Dyjae Williams (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) contributed seven points each while Hall and Donahue tied for a game-high with seven rebounds apiece. The visitors shot 32 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three-point range, and 60.9 percent from the stripe in the loss.

Keystone will wrap up the 2015-16 season next Saturday with a CSAC contest against Centenary College starting at 1:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center. Prior to the game, the Giants will honor Donahue, the team's lone senior this year, along with the senior members of the cheerleading team.