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EAST STROUDSBURG – Sophomore guard Noelle Powell had 15 points and three steals off the bench, and senior forward Allison Howard added 17 points and seven rebounds as East Stroudsburg University defeated Holy Family 65-59 in its regular season opener at Koehler Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

Powell hit 5-of-7 attempts from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Warriors' bench outscored the visitors by a 26-5 margin. ESU also scored 20 points off 23 Holy Family turnovers in the victory.

Abigail Iannotti had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Tigers (0-3), who finished 22-9 and reached the NCAA Tournament for a 12th time in 13 years last season.

The teams traded leads for a majority of the first half. Holy Family held a 21-20 advantage with 4:02 remaining in the second quarter, but a 3-pointer by freshman guardTiffany Lapotsky sparked an 11-3 run for ESU over the next three minutes of play to give the home side a seven-point lead.

Lapotsky supplied seven points in 23 minutes off the bench for the Warriors, and she also registered a team-high four steals. ESU had active hands on defense all night long, finishing with a 14-5 edge in thefts overall.

The Warriors took a 31-27 lead into the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Kylie Giedemann produced the game's eighth tie at 35-35 with 8:04 left, but two free throws by freshman guard Jordan Hertz on the ensuing possession gave ESU an advantage it would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.

Holy Family trailed 46-41 to open up the fourth quarter. Iannotti sank back-to-back layups to reduce the margin down to a single point, but Powell responded with a key 3-pointer on the other side of the court.

The Tigers made it a one-possession game on two other occasions in the fourth, but junior guard Imani Brown drilled 3-pointers each time on ESU's next offensive sequence. The second of those two long balls made it 57-51 with 2:29 left, and Holy Family would not get any closer the rest of the way.

Brown ended the night with 10 points and a team-high nine boards. Howard, meanwhile, hit 6-of-18 shots from the floor and went 5-for-7 from the free throw line to lead the Warriors in scoring.

Junior center Rebecca Rutkowski, who was 17th in Division II in blocks per games last season (2.3), added three of ESU's four rejections in tonight's contest.

Powell reached double figures for the fifth time in her Warrior career. Two of those performances have been against Holy Family, as she netted 13 points in ESU's 70-61 road win over the Tigers on December 14 last season.

The Warriors remain at home this weekend, hosting Clarion at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Pitt-Johnstown at 1 p.m. on Sunday in a pair of matchups against PSAC West opponents.