Aston, PA – The Patriots wrapped up their Fall stint with an 87-60 loss to Neumann University on Thursday evening in The Mirenda Center.
Senior
Alea Flowers led the Patriots with 23 points, shooting 6-15 from the field and 10-14 from the stripe, while collecting a season-high 7 steals. Flowers was followed by
Carlee Conrad who notched an additional 15 points.
Cayleen Conrad chipped in 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
The Patriots went out with a solid start, creating an early 9-0 lead fueled by a pair of fast-break layups from
Alea Flowers and a pair of trey balls from
Kaitlyn Hess and
Carlee Conrad. However, the Knights would slowly creep in, claiming the 1-point lead with one minute remaining in the first-quarter. Neumann ended the first-quarter with a couple good free-throws, a layup and a last second jumper for a 4-point advantage.
In similar fashion, the second-quarter was a close contest, trading the lead four times. However, the Knights would take control with five minutes left, pushing their lead to 8. The Patriots would respond with a few free-throws from
Cayleen Conrad and
Alea Flowers, only trailing by 3 at the end of the first-half.
The Knights began to develop a more consistent flow during the third-quarter, extending their lead to 12 before entering the final stanza. With only ten minutes remaining, the Knights were able to capitalize on Patriot foul trouble, outscoring the Patriots 21-6 in the fourth-quarter, and ultimately claiming the 27-point victory.
As a team, Valley Forge shot 16-64 from the field (25%), 5-24 from behind the arc (20.8), and 23-37 from the charity stripe (62.2%). The Knights posted a 69-29 benefit on rebounds, allowing them to secure 19 second-chance points, and 60 points in the paint alone.
"We struggled down the stretch to get the defensive stops that we need to keep our pace," head coach
Gretchen LeVan added. "We have to continue to chip away at learning how to play a complete team game. However, despite the loss, we saw Alea step up on both ends of the floor with us."
The Patriots will be back in action following Christmas Break as they host the Nittany Lions of Penn State Berks on Wednesday, January 8
th at 5 p.m.