Phenomenal shooting from behind the arc in the first half set the tone, as the Abington Nittany Lions stormed past Morrisville State 78-46 for its first North Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship in program history.

The win for Nittany Lions was the second largest margin of victory for a NEAC title game, just shy of the 2006-2007 championship.

NEAC Coach of the Year, Stephanie Carideo, stressed the importance of team defense, which paid off as they held the Mustangs to 17 points in the first half.  Abington will go into the NCAA Tournament boasting the nation's top scoring defense.

The trio of All-NEAC selections proved their mettle with Janaiah Elum leading the way, scoring 30 points. Stephanie Keyes and Jessica Schmidt also recorded double-doubles.

Morrisville State was led by Alyssa Gratien's 11 points, as she shot 4-of-10 from the floor in this afternoon's game.

Janaiah Elum set the tempo early with deadly accuracy behind the arc; three early three-point baskets forced Morrisville State to call timeout with Abington holding the advantage 14-4 with 14:30 in the first half.

The Nittany Lions dominated the boards out-rebounding the Mustangs 11-4 with senior center, Jessica Schmidt, scooping up the Lion's share.

Midway through the half, Morrisville State struggled to find their form hitting 25% of their shots. The Nittany Lions stifled any second chance points by demonstrating dominant rebounding.

A pair of Kyra Lunsford's three-point shots and Elum's jump shot gave Abington a commanding 28-8 lead at the eight minute-mark.  Abington continued to keep its foot on the gas as they walked into the half up 43-17.  By halftime, NEAC First-Team guard, Stephanie Keyes, had already recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  But it was junior guard, Janaiah Elum, who stole the show, as she knocked down 17 points by halftime.

Morrisville State came out of the second half motivated and opened with a 12-5 run to cut into their steep deficit. 

The Mustangs wouldn't give up and scored 18 points in the first seven minutes of the contest, which was more than their first half total. However, Abington crept back to its first half form with Keyes and Schmidt contributing to a 63-37 lead at the nine minute-mark.

The Nittany Lions were able to close down the stretch with a strong defense, only giving up one point in the final four minutes of the game.

Three years removed of becoming a full member, Abington will join March Madness for the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. Round one begins Friday March 6th, and Abington will find out who they will be facing tomorrow afternoon on the NCAA Selection Show.