Box Score

EAST STROUDSBURG – Junior guard Imani Brown registered 20 points and 10 rebounds for her second-career double-double, and East Stroudsburg University continued its strong start to the season with a 65-62 victory over Pitt-Johnstown on Sunday afternoon at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Senior forward Allison Howard added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors (3-0, 2-0 PSAC), moving her within six points of becoming the 15th ESU player to reach 1,000 points for her career.

Victoria Moreland had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Mountain Cats (3-1, 1-1 PSAC), who had picked up three wins, including a 74-72 triumph over No. 25 Shaw on Nov. 11, to begin their campaign.

The Warriors stepped up defensively over the final six minutes, allowing only four UPJ points during that span to secure the win. The final defensive stand came with six seconds remaining, when Laurel O'Barto missed a 3-pointer which would have tied up the score.

The visitors jumped out to a 19-13 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play, hitting three of their four 3-pointers in the opening quarter while ESU missed on its first nine attempts from long distance.

The second quarter was a different story, with the Warriors outscoring UPJ 25-12 to take a seven-point advantage into the intermission. Trailing 27-21 with 6:42 left in the half, a Brown 3-pointer began an 18-2 run for the home side over the next six minutes of action.

Brown and Howard each had five points during that stretch, with both reaching double figures before halftime. Brown finished the contest hitting 8-of-15 shots from the floor and all three of her free throw attempts to reach 20 points for the fourth time in her career. Her other double-double came on Jan. 30 last season, when she totaled 17 points and a career-high 11 boards in a 71-66 win over Bloomsburg.

A 3-pointer by freshman guard Jordan Hertz 25 seconds into the second half gave ESU its largest lead of the game at 41-31. Hertz also managed six of ESU's 10 steals, the most for a Warrior player in the season's first three games.

The Mountain Cats controlled play for the remainder of the third, reducing the ESU lead down to 53-52 heading into the final quarter. UPJ took its first lead of the half on a basket by Olivia McCabe to begin the fourth, and the visitors grabbed a 58-56 advantage on a jumper by Moreland with 6:43 remaining.

Howard responded with a 3-pointer on the next Warrior possession, and baskets by Hertz and sophomore guard Noelle Powell completed a 7-0 run to help ESU expand the margin up to five points. The Warrior defense ensured that the lead would hold for the remainder of the contest.

Hertz and senior guard Rachel Falkowski each tallied eight points and six rebounds in the victory. ESU held on for the win despite shooting 36.2 percent from the floor compared to 45.5 percent for UPJ. The Warriors forced 19 turnovers and scored 21 points off of those giveaways.

ESU completes a run of three games in four days on Tuesday night, traveling to Philadelphia University for a contest scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Notes:

Brown and Howard have each scored in double figures in each of the season's first three games.

The Warriors shot 81.8 percent from the free throw line as a team, hitting 9-of-11 attempts.