Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - East Stroudsburg University nearly pulled off an upset of No. 12-ranked Holy Family in its 2012-13 women's  basketball season opener on Wednesday night, falling 53-47 in a game that was tightly contested throughout.

The Warriors, who trailed 24-18 at halftime after an 8-0 run by the homestanding Tigers (1-1), opened the second half with an 18-7 run to take a 36-31 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Holy Family, which reached the NCAA Division II East Region final last year and lost its season opener 78-64 at No. 2-ranked Bentley on Sunday, took its first lead since early in the second half with 7:36 remaining. A three-pointer broke a 40-40 tie, and the Tigers managed to hold off ESU down the stretch.

ESU used a balanced scoring effort and stout defense to push Holy Family through the final minutes. Holy Family shot 30.8 percent (16-for-52) for the game and was 9-for-42 in the first 30+ minutes before going 7-for-10 down the stretch.

Sophomore forward Jessica Martin, last year's PSAC East Freshman of the Year, had eight points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes to lead ESU, but was limited to six minutes in the second half and fouled out with 2:20 left.

Six players scored at least five points, including freshman guard Helena Gemmell, who had eight points, five rebounds and five steals in 17 minutes in her debut for ESU. Redshirt sophomore guard Steph Cabald scored seven points, including a pair of three-pointers, junior guard Andrea Veres scored six points and senior forward Fayola Moise and sophomore guard Ryann Fiascki had five points each. Moise added seven rebounds and a career-high four assists.

ESU shot 31.0 percent (18-for-58) and was 3-for-21 from the three-point line, but forced 11 second-half turnovers by Holy Family and committed just six of its own. Both teams turned it over 22 times in the game.

Erin Mann (17 points, 14 rebounds) and Kelly Brady (10 points, 16 rebounds) both had double-doubles for Holy Family, which had a 48-41 advantage on the boards. Guard Molly Hannon had six points, five assists and six steals.

Holy Family jumped out to 10-3 lead but was never able to put away ESU, which rallied to take an 18-16 lead with an 8-0 stretch over seven minutes late in the first half. The Warriors went ahead 17-16 on a jumper by Martin and extended the lead to two when Gemmell hit one-of-two at the line, but Holy Family came back to score the final eight points of the half.

Fiascki opened the second half with a three-pointer to cut the 24-18 deficit in half, Martin hit a jumper to get it back to three and a jumper by Borst and three-pointer by Cabald put the Warriors in front, 29-28, four minutes into the second half.

Buckets by Moise, Gemmell and freshman center Michelle Boggs (three points, three rebounds) made it 36-31 with 10:36 left, but Hanlon and Brady answered for Holy Family. ESU took its final lead (40-39) on a jumper by Gemmell with 7:54 left and Maggie Serratelli's three-pointer gave Holy Family a 43-40 advantage at 7:45.

A tip-in by Moise ended a 14-5 run to make it 45-43 before Holy Family pulled away, holding the Warriors to four points over the final five minutes.

ESU has 10 days off before returning to the floor, hosting the 48th Annual Pocono Classic on November 24-25 at Koehler Fieldhouse. The Warriors host Caldwell on Saturday at 5 p.m. and Concordia (N.Y.) on Sunday at 3 p.m., preceded by a game both days.