Box Score

MANSFIELD, Pa. – Sophomore Marlene Bassett tallied a game-high 19 points and career-high four steals as the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team closed the 2018 portion of its schedule with a 68-44 victory against Mansfield University on Sunday.
 
ESU (6-6, 3-3 PSAC) shot just 30 percent from the field in the opening half of action but responded by connecting on 58 percent from the floor in the second half. The Warriors outscored Mansfield 44-20 in the second half and recorded its 13th consecutive victory against the Mounties. Mansfield (0-9, 0-5 PSAC) went just 4-for-25 in the second half and 13-for-52 in the contest with five of its buckets coming from downtown.
 
Bassett finished the contest 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 at the free-throw line while adding five rebounds and one block for ESU. Junior Tiffany Lapotsky added 11 points and a career-high six steals for the Warriors, who tallied a season-high 18 in the contest. Sophomore Kaitlyn Swint and freshman Maggie Wigoda each tallied eight points for ESU, while junior Jordan Hertz pulled down a team-high eight boards.
 
Ellie Thompson and Erin Gibbons combined to score 20 of the Mounties' 44 points in the contest. Thompson added seven rebounds and three steals, while Mia Leonard just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Mansfield led by as many as nine points with 3:25 left to play in the opening quarter but would see ESU rally to knot the score at the half.
 
Following a pair of made free throws from Bassett, Mansfield would counter with a 5-0 run to take an 8-2 advantage off a three-point play from Gibbons. The Mounties would then take their largest lead of the contest at the 3:25 mark as Leonard finished a layup in the paint to make it 12-9. ESU closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to 14-11 following a steal and a layup from Hertz with 15 seconds left.
 
Swint knotted the score at 17-17 with 6:35 left in the second quarter and looked to give the Warriors their first lead of the contest after being fouled on the play. ESU would even the score three more times down the stretch as Bassett hit the final bucket of the half to make it 24-24 going into the break.
 
Mansfield would build a 33-26 lead in the third quarter before Bassett ended the run and cut the deficit to five for the Warriors. Lapotsky gave ESU its first lead of the contest (34-33) with 3:14 left in the quarter off a fast-break score in the paint. Sophomore Amanda Pike connected on a late 3-pointer to send the Warriors into the fourth quarter with a 43-38 lead over the Mounties off an assist from Wigoda.
 
Wigoda notched four of her career-best eight points to open the fourth quarter for ESU and put the Warriors up by nine (47-38) before Mansfield ended the run with a 1-for-2 effort at the charity stripe. ESU increased its advantage to 62-42 with 3:48 left in the contest following a layup from Bassett. Senior Noelle Powell closed the contest with her 110th career 3-pointer made to put the Warriors up 68-44.
 
The Warriors return to action on Jan. 2 with a non-conference matchup against Le Moyne at 6 p.m. ESU returns to Koehler Fieldhouse on January 9 for a 6 p.m. matchup against Lock Haven.