Macs firing on all cylinders in win

Updated: March 23, 2011 2:14PM

Having already lost leading scorer Margaret Wildner to a season-ending injury, Mother McAuley stood at 9-10 following a January 13 loss to Trinity.

Since the GCAC loss? That's been a different story.

With Thursday's 53-25 win over Oak Lawn in the 4A regional title game, Mother McAuley has won 10 of its last 11 games since. The regional title was the fifth in a row for the Mighty Macs.

"We realized that yeah, we did lose players, but the people who could play had to recover and really work as a team," McAuley guard Molly Stasaitis said. "We've been practicing hard so it has paid off."

It was Stasaitis leading the way for McAuley (19-10) out of the gate as the Macs came out clicking on all cylinders.

Shooting a sizzling 9-for-16 from the floor in the first quarter, regional host McAuley scored inside and out, taking apart the Oak Lawn zone.

Having already hit a three-pointer earlier in the first quarter, Stasaitis closed out the first quarter in style, banking in another shot from beyond the arc.

"I thought that was going to be an air-ball, but somehow it found its way in, the senior guard said with a smile."

Taking a commanding 38-16 halftime lead, McAuley finished the first half 16-for-26 shooting including a 6-for-10 mark from long range.

Overall, Stasaitis finished with 13 points (all in the first half) with Alyssa Siwek adding 11 points and Kelly Mehalek, Tatiana Ingram and Tiffany Fortune scoring six apiece.

"It was just one of those games where everyone had a good game," Stasaitis said. "Our ball movement was great."

Kim Braasch led Oak Lawn (15-12) with 12 points while Bridget Niemiec scored nine.

"McAuley came out, and they were hot from outside," Oak Lawn coach Janet Haubenreiser said. "They broke us down defensively, and we just didn't execute well."

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