Box Score
ERIE, Pa. – Natalie Piaggesi had a game-high 25 points, including a go-ahead layup with 3:55 remaining, as Mercyhurst held off a fourth quarter rally by East Stroudsburg University to earn a 74-71 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Piaggesi also registered five blocks as the Lakers (7-1, 4-0 PSAC) handed the Warriors (5-2, 2-2 PSAC) a second-straight league defeat.
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, senior guard
Madison Tamburini sank a jumper with 4:25 left in regulation to put ESU ahead, 67-66. Piaggesi, though, converted for Mercyhurst on the next trip down the floor, and the Lakers sealed the win when a long 3-point effort from freshman guard
Jordan Hertz fell short at the buzzer.
Junior guard
Imani Brown (19 points) and senior forward
Allison Howard (17 points) led the offense for the Warriors, with the duo each hitting all six of their attempts from the free throw line. Sophomore guard
Noelle Powell, who added 12 points, was also 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, as ESU shot a season-best 85.7 percent (24-28) from the line.
Similar to Saturday's contest at Edinboro, today's game was a back-and-forth affair for most of the first half, with a total of eight ties and seven lead changes in the opening 20 minutes. The Warriors were ahead 26-24 with 6:02 left in the second quarter, but Mercyhurst closed on a 14-2 run to take a 38-28 advantage into the intermission.
The Lakers grabbed their largest lead of 44-30 with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter. ESU trimmed the deficit down to 49-42 heading into the fourth, and continued to reduce that margin once play resumed.
Tamburini's jumper completed a 9-3 run to give the Warriors their first lead of the half. The first seven points for ESU during that stretch came from the line, as the visitors hit 10-of-12 free throw attempts overall in the final quarter.
Piagessi scored six of Mercyhurst's final eight points, including back-to-back layups after Tamburini's field goal, to help hold off the comeback attempt. The Lakers went 0-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 40 seconds, giving ESU two opportunities to tie the score, but both possessions ended without points.
Brown and Howard continued their streak of scoring 10+ points in every game this season. Howard's 17 matched a season-high and moved her past DeAnna Rayam (2006-10) for 13th place on the program's all-time scoring list. With 1,048 career points, she is only two back of Rose Mohl (1981-85) for 12th place.
Mercyhurst, which was ranked No. 7 in the most-recent D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll (four spots behind ESU), improved to 4-0 at home on the year.
The Warriors return to Koehler Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening, hosting New Haven at 6 p.m. in the team's final home game before the New Year.
