Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (1-6) battled from start to finish but came up short in a 76-66 setback to Gwynedd Mercy (4-5) in a non-conference game at The Sports Center. Three Ospreys combined for 56 of the team's 66 points in the contest.
April Peterson (Lafayette/High Point) had a monster night with career highs of 21 points and 19 rebounds. Peterson shot 8-13 (61.5%) from the floor plus 5-7 (71.4%) at the line and grabbed nearly half of Stockton's 42 boards.
Freshman point guard
Emily Donzanti (Toms River/TR South) notched a career high with 20 points on the night.
Natalie Miller (New Milford/New Milford) shot a torrid 5-8 (62.5%) from three-point range and produced a new career high with 15 points for the Ospreys.
Donzanti scored the first four points of the game before Gwynedd Mercy reeled off 11 straight markers for the only lead change of the night. Miller hit two three-pointers in the first quarter and Stockton trailed 24-15 at the end of the period.
In the second quarter, Stockton fell behind by 11 but was within seven, 30-23, after another Miller trey with 2:09 on the clock. The Griffins answered with seven straight points for a 37-23 count at the half. Miller was a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc for nine first-half points.
The Ospreys faced their biggest deficit at 42-25 early in the third quarter but chipped away throughout the period. A layup by Donzanti with a minute to go briefly closed the gap to 50-43 before a Gwynedd Mercy basket made it 52-43 after three stanzas.
The margin went back up to 15 in the fourth quarter before Stockton tried one last rally. Peterson scored 10 straight Stockton points and Donzanti followed with five in a row to cap a 15-8 spurt that got the Ospreys within 68-61 with 2:16 to play.
After a Griffins' basket, Miller swished her fifth three-pointer of the night to make it 70-64 with 44 seconds left but Gwynedd Mercy went 6-6 at the line the rest of the way to seal the outcome in the 76-66 defeat.
Denise Sacco paced the Griffins with 19 points followed by Susan Bossler with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Chyanne Fine chipped in with 15 points for the visitors.
Stockton will play its third game in five days when the Ospreys host Rowan University in an NJAC tilt on Wednesday at 6 pm.
