Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University took a 34-28 lead into halftime following a layup by senior guard Mel Villano in the closing seconds and never trailed in the second half to earn a 58-55 win over Shippensburg in PSAC East women's basketball on Saturday afternoon at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Villano scored a team-high 13 points, nine after intermission, as the Warriors opened an 11-point lead with 7:50 left before holding off the Lady Raiders down the stretch. Senior forward DeAnna Rayam had 10 points and five assists and sophomore guard Cyara Woodridge (eight points, nine rebounds), sophomore forward Jennifer Scherer (five points, eight rebounds) and senior center Alexa Detzi (five points, eight rebounds) helped ESU to a 46-37 advantage on the glass.

Kasey Gardner led Shippensburg with 20 points and nine rebounds and went over 1,000 career points but Lauren Beckley was limited to just 10 points, a dozen below her average of 21.8 that ranked third in Division II entering the week. Beckley picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the second half, and both Beckley and Gardner shot 4-for-13 from the field. Shippensburg shot 30 percent for the game.

ESU led from nearly start to finish to notch its first conference win of the season. Five players scored in a 12-4 run in the game's first six minutes before Shippensburg battled back to take its only lead of the game, 18-17, on a layup by Caitlin Bamberger with 7:58 left in the half. Freshman guard Barb Borst hit a three-pointer of the Warriors' next possession, Detzi hit a layup and two free throws in the next three minutes and Woodridge drilled a triple to open a 27-21 lead.

An offensive rebound and putback by Detzi and a jumper by freshman center Deonna Overton helped ESU maintain its advantage near the end of the half. Shippensburg's Kaitlin Capriccio (nine points) scored with 43 seconds left to make it 32-28, but Scherer had an offensive rebound to save ESU another possession and Villano scored to close the half following a timeout.

Shippensburg had two turnovers and missed its first three shots from the field – one by Beckley and two by Gardner – early in the second half and ESU stretched its lead to double figures for the first time on two free throws by Villano and a layup by Borst after Beckley went to the bench with her fourth foul with 17:50 left.

The Warriors' lead stayed between six and 11 points for the next 15 minutes as they hit a number of big shots, including three-pointers by Villano and sophomore forward Becky Hayter, another jumper by Villano and a three-point play by Rayam that made the score 51-40 with 7:50 left.

Rayam's layup with 4:21 left following an offensive rebound by Detzi gave ESU its final 10-point lead at 57-47 before Shippensburg began to dig into its deficit. Capriccio hit a jumper, then split a pair of free throws and rebounded the miss which led directly to a three-pointer by Erin Varley that brought Ship within 57-53 with 2:30 left.

The Warriors missed the front end of a one-and-one before Villano drew an offensive foul on Gardner at the 2:00 mark. Beckley missed three's on the Raiders' next two possessions before Gardner had an offensive rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws to narrow the margin to two (57-55) with 45 seconds to play.

ESU ran the shot clock down and Shippensburg got the rebound after Scherer missed a three-pointer, but Scherer came up with the defensive board after Capriccio missed the game-tying jumper with seven seconds left. Scherer made the first free throw for a three-point lead and Gardner rebounded the miss on the second, but Shippensburg never got the ball over halfcourt as Hayter took it away to seal the victory.

ESU had 15 steals on 21 Shippensburg turnovers, led by four from Woodridge and three each by Villano, Borst and Hayter. The Warriors' nine-rebound advantage is tied for their second-best this year, and their shooting percentage of 38.6 is also the second-best mark of the season.

The Warriors are back in conference action on Wednesday with a trip to Bloomsburg for a 5:30 p.m. start.