ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In its final game of the 2024 portion of the schedule, the 24th ranked Catholic women's basketball team tried to complete a 2-0 trip in Florida with a battle against Vassar. The Cardinals gained a lead early on the Brewers and never looked back, holding a lead from the 8:23 mark in the first quarter until the end of the game to lock up a 69-58 win.
The Cardinals opened up the game scoring the first six points with
Kerry Flaherty knocking down a three and
Keegan Douglas and
Anna Scoblick knocking down free throws.
Amelia Kennedy drained a triple later on in the quarter to help grow the Catholic lead to nine before Maddie Ahearn answered with a three of her own for the Brewers with eight second left to cut the Cardinals lead to 15-9 heading into the second. Catholic continued its defensive prowess from yesterday, holding Vassar to just 1-for-12 from the field in the opening quarter.
Catholic put together a very efficient offensive quarter in the second, shooting 9-for-16 (56%) as a team, including starting the quarter off 8-for-11.
Carly Mulvaney shined throughout the frame, dropping 10 of the Cardinals 21 points while also converting twice from beyond the arc.
Lauren Kraft also contributed four points off the bench with Scoblick adding four in the quarter as well. Vassar knocked down four triples in the quarter to keep them in striking distance, down by nine heading into the halftime break.
After Mulvaney drained a triple to push the lead out double digits, 41-29, the Brewers responded with a 9-0 run to get the deficit down to one possession. Douglas and
Sam Blumenthal both converted on layups to put an end to the Vassar run, followed by a Kennedy follow up lay-in to push the lead back up to nine. Vassar scored the final four points of the quarter to trail by five heading into the fourth quarter.
Catholic took momentum back quickly to start the final quarter after Scoblick scored on a second chance layup and Mulvaney knocked down yet another three. Those two were the driving forces in the final quarter for the Cardinals on the offensive end, combining for 16 of the team's 22 points to help close out another victory. Flaherty converted on a jumper while getting fouled and sank her bonus to push the lead back up to 10 with just 2:23 remaining. Catholic converted at the free throw line at the end of the game and continued to play sound defensively to close out the 69-58 victory. The Cardinals head into the new year with a 10-1 record and on a seven game winning streak.
Mulvaney matched her season-high in points with a game-high of 20 to lead the Cardinals. She also tied a career-high in three-pointers made in a game with four while also coming up one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. It was the fourth 20+ point game of her career and she matched a career-high in another stat with five steals. Scoblick finished behind her in points with 16 and also pulled down nine boards. Flaherty and Douglas were the other Catholic players to finish in double-figures with 11 and 10 respectively.
Catholic shot a season-high percentage from deep as a team in the win at 38% (8-for-21) which included going 6-for-13 in the first half. During every game during the seven game win streak, the Cardinals have held their opponent to less than 36% from the field after holding the Brewers to 32% in the victory. The team finishes its non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-0 record in those games.
The Cardinals first matchup in 2025 will be a Landmark Conference bout on the road against Lycoming on Wednesday, January 8. Tip off is set for 2 pm inside Lamade Gym.
