Gwynedd Valley, Pa. – Gwynedd Mercy University led wire-to-wire in a 73-43 victory over visiting Keystone College in a Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball matchup on Wednesday night.  The Griffins lift their record to 7-8 on the season and 5-1 in conference play while the Giants slip to 5-9 overall and 4-2 in the CSAC.
 
Gwynedd Mercy scored 17 of the game's first 20 points and led by as many as 18 points in the first quarter of Wednesday night's game before Keystone closed the period with an 8-0 burst to cut its deficit to 23-13 at the conclusion of the first 10-minute frame.
 
The Griffins countered with the first eight points of the second period before the Giants narrowed the gap to 14 points midway through the period.  The hosts pushed back and built a 20-point halftime advantage, 41-21.
 
Charlotte Kucowski powered Gwynedd Mercy with 18 points over the first two quarters.  The Griffins connected on 41.7 percent of their attempts from the field in the opening half while going 7-12 from three-point range and 4-6 from the free throw line.
 
Nina Hodanich (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) had five points while Hannah Zuchowski (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area) added four points in the first half for the Giants, who shot 25 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 3-12 from long distance and a perfect 4-4 from the stripe.
 
Hodanich opened the scoring in the third stanza with a field goal to pull the visitors to within 18 points, but Gwynedd Mercy netted the next 11 points to build a commanding, 52-23 advantage at the 4:25 mark.  Keystone outscored the Griffins 7-3 the rest of the period as the host would hold a 55-30 lead heading into the final period.
 
The Griffins extended its advantage to 35 points in the fourth quarter before closing out the win after the Giants outscored the hosts 13-8 over the final six-plus minutes of play.
 
Kucowski finished with game-highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds while Julianna Hoisington added 11 points for Gwynedd Mercy on the night.  The Griffins finished the contest shooting 41.8 percent from the field, 50 percent from downtown, and 6-10 from the line.
 
Zuchowski and Savanna Robinson (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) had 10 points apiece to lead Keystone with Robinson adding team-highs of four assists and three steals. Hodanich netted seven points while Zuchowski and Dyjae Williams (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) grabbed six rebounds apiece.  Williams also blocked a pair of shots and Bryce Garrett (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) chipped in five points for the Giants, who went 25.4 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from three-point land, and 64.3 percent from the stripe in the loss.   
 
Keystone will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Cabrini University in a CSAC contest starting at 1:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center in La Plume.