Curran said that, throughout the game, players had one objective on their minds: "We're doing this for Meghan."
"As much as it's for ourselves, it's for our teammate," Curran said.
The close-knit group, ranked No. 4 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, shared the ball on offense, executing a number of backdoor cuts for layups.
"We're a very balanced team," said Carroll coach Chuck Creighton, Meghan's father. "We certainly miss Meghan, but the other girls stepped up."
On the defensive end, the Patriots stifled the No. 9-ranked Saints (17-3, 8-1) with a zone that Chuck Creighton turned to in the beginning of the second quarter. The Saints never found an answer for it, as Carroll's lead grew from 16-14 to 27-14.
"They actually surprised me when they went zone," Neumann-Goretti coach Steve Skedzielewski. "We've seen man pretty much all year."
With as many as three bodies on 6-foot-3 senior Omawumi Rafiu, the Saints repeatedly settled for long jumpers, which went awry. Carroll held Rafiu, a Georgetown recruit, to seven points, nine fewer than her season average.
Creighton said Carroll's grueling schedule, which included a tournament in South Carolina that featured some of the nation's top teams, prepared his girls to shut down a star center.
"I thought what the zone did was it kept them from moving around," Creighton said. "We did a nice job of packing it in on their big players and rebounding the ball."
The result put the two teams in a virtual tie in the league standings, with Cardinal O'Hara leading the way at 8-0 thanks to a two-point win Jan. 16 over Carroll.
Neumann-Goretti will face O'Hara on Friday with a chance to lock the Catholic League into a three-way tie.
"That's an easy sell," said Skedzielewski, who added that he hopes to see Carroll again in the playoffs.
Neumann-Goretti 9 7 9 8 – 33
Archbishop Carroll 14 13 12 17 – 56
NG: Tanesha Sutton 8, Omawumi Rafiu 7, Tamyra Laws 4, Sianna Martin 2, Maureen Fiocca 7, Amanda Vassallo 5.
AC: Sarah Curran 15, Rachel Pearson 13, Shannon Shields 9, Olivia DeRogatis 11, Kristie Constantino 6, Kiera McNulty 2.
