SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team opened its 2019-20 season on Friday at the Shippensburg University Conference Challenge with a 55-48 victory against Frostburg State.
 
ESU (1-0) tallied 19 points in the first quarter and would lead from start to finish in the contest as the Warriors lead by as many as 11 points on the afternoon. The Bobcats would trim the deficit to a single possession on several occasions, but wouldn't be able to jump ahead of the Warriors.
 
The Warriors were paced by senior Jordan Hertz who scored a team-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists, and four blocks. Senior Tiffany Lapotsky finished the contest with 11 points and a game-high six assists, while redshirt sophomore Julia Kutz added seven points and four rebounds for the Warriors. Redshirt freshman Cassie Ksiazek tallied six points for ESU and added five rebounds.
 
It would be a balanced scoring attack that paced ESU in the opening half of action against the Bobcats as Hertz and junior Marlene Bassett each scored five points. Eight different players tallied at least two points in the half for the Warriors, who took a 19-14 advantage into the second quarter.
 
The Bobcats looked to trim into the deficit in the second quarter as Frostburg State outscored ESU 11-8. An eight-point advantage for ESU would be cut to two with five seconds left in the half following a driving layup by Morgan Dombroski, who tallied 15 points in the half.
 
ESU quickly increased its lead to open the third quarter as Hertz and Kutz connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 36-27 with 7:54 left in the quarter. Hertz opened the quarter with a trey just 28 seconds into play to make it a two-possession game.
 
Junior Kaitlyn Swint would give ESU its largest-lead of the contest with 4:53 left to play in the quarter as her layup made it 39-28. The Bobcats cut the deficit to single digits before senior Dominique Rayam finished a second-chance layup to make it 41-33.
 
Frostburg State rallied to cut the ESU lead to 45-44 with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter as Victoria Diggs would record a four-point play after being fouled while connecting on a trey for the Bobcats. The Warriors answered the rally with a 6-0 run to increase the lead to 51-44 following a three-point play from Lapotsky with 4:17 left in the contest. Frostburg State cut the deficit to 53-48 with 2:29 left to play as Diggs connected on one of two free throws. The Warriors sealed the victory at the free-throw line as Hertz made a pair of shots with 15 seconds remaining to make it 55-48.
 
ESU finished 19-of-51 from the field in the contest and went 7-of-17 from 3-point range, while the Bobcats shot 17-of-47 from the field and 4-of-8 from downtown. The Warriors forced 19 turnovers in the contest and scored 14 points off FSU miscues. The Bobcats were unable to capitalize on 11 offensive boards as FSU held a 40-28 advantage in rebounds. 
 
The Warriors face Wheeling tomorrow afternoon in their final match at the SU Conference Challenge. Tip-off between the Warriors and Cardinals is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be provided courtesy of the Shippensburg Sports Information Department.