Basketball Spotlight: Watson Sparks Devils to Win at Felician Thursday, January 27, 2005 By Bob Heller USIP Sports Information Director Stephanie Watson came off the bench to score as career-high 25 points as the USP women’s basketball team defeated Felician College 70-59 tonight in Rutherford, New Jersey. Watson (Jr., Archbishop Ryan HS/Warminster, PA) scored 15 of her 25 points in the second half as the Devils overcome a slight halftime deficit to outscore the Golden Falcons 38-25 in the period for their 12th win of the season. Watson connected on 7 of 14 shots from the field and was 8 for 11 from the free throw line. Stephanie also pulled down 13 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double. Also recording a double-double for the Devils was Leah Shumoski (Jr., Marple-Newtown HS/Broomall, PA). Shumoski scored 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Leah made 7 of 12 shots from the field and was 6 of 8 from the free throw line. In addition, Shumoski dished out seven assists. Shelby Rance (So., Central Columbia HS/ Bloomsburg, PA) also shot 7 of 12 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to finish the game with 16 points. Together, Watson, Shumoski and Rance accounted for 61 of the Devils 70 points. Trailing 34-32 at the start of the second period, Watson started the Devils on a 17-5 run to take command of the game. Her three-point field goal at the 18:32 mark and a layup 36 seconds later started the period, giving the Devils a 37-34 lead. After a basket by Felician cut the lead to one, Shumoski took a Rance pass in for a layup and was fouled. Leah made the free throw to complete the 3-point play. Danielle Norman’s layup cut the Devils lead to two, 40-38 before the Devils scored nine of the next 10 points to take a double digit lead 49-39 with 12:18 left. Rance had four of the nine points and Rashanna Edwards (So., West Windsor-Plainsboro HS/ Plainsboro, NJ) nailed a three-point field goal to highlight the run. Felician scored the next four points to pull within six, 49-43 with 10:50 left. The Devils then went on a 10-2 run to take their biggest lead, 14 points, 59-45 with 7:46 left in the game. Watson’s two three-point field goals highlighted the run. The Devils maintained their double-digit advantage for nearly the remainder of the game, with the Golden Falcons cutting it to single digits at the 1:49 mark, 65-57 only to have the Devils go back up by 10, 67-57 28 seconds on a pair of free throws by Watson. Rance added an uncontested layup off the Devils half-court offense and Shumoski knocked down a free throw to round out the second half scoring. The Devils shot 50% from the field in the second half (13-26) and finished the game making 25 of 52 shots from the field (48.1%). USP: was also 4-for-9 from three-point range. Felician shot 36.2% from the field (21-58) including 0-for-10 from 3-point range. Felician held a slight edge on the boards 36-33 (14-7 on the offensive glass). USP is now 12-5 overall and 10-2 in league play. Next up for the Devils is a home contest against Post University on Saturday, January 29, 2005.