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EAST STROUDSBURG – A 28-point opening quarter helped to spark the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball to a 73-46 victory against Mansfield University on Saturday in a PSAC East matchup.
 
ESU (9-13, 6-9 PSAC) snapped a six-game losing skid with the win and helped keep its playoff hopes alive with five games left in the regular season. The Warriors forced Mansfield into 31 turnovers in the contest. The Mounties (2-18, 1-15 PSAC) shot just 31.8 percent in the contest, including a 0-for-9 mark in the opening quarter.
 
The Warriors were paced by 29 points from junior Tiffany Lapotsky, who matched her career-high with six 3-pointers in the contest. Lapotsky finished 8-of-14 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Kaitlyn Swint, who made her second consecutive start for ESU, tallied 11 points. Freshman Maggie Wigoda matched a career-high with eight points to go along with a career-high seven steals. Senior Noelle Powell connected on the 122nd 3-point attempt of her career, moving her into a tie for fifth-place all-time in the ESU record book.
 
Mansfield received a team-high 16 points from Erin Gibbons. Gibbons added a 5-for-7 effort at the free-throw line to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Ellie Thompson tallied a game-high nine rebounds for the Mounties, while Noelle Cameron added nine points and five boards.
 
ESU opened the contest on an 11-0 run as Lapotsky drained a pair of 3-pointers to get the Warriors going offensively. Lapotsky hit her second 3-ball of the contest with 6:27 left on the clock as Mansfield called a timeout to try and stop the run. The Mounties would get a pair of points at the free-throw line in the quarter, shooting 0-of-9 from the field. Mia Leonard made 1-of-2 attempts at the line to trim the deficit to 16-2.
 
The Warriors closed the opening quarter on a 12-0 run as Wigoda tallied three points off a layup and a free-throw to give ESU a 28-2 lead heading into the second quarter. The Warriors forced Mansfield into 11 turnovers in the quarter and hit 10-of-14 shots from the field.
 
Mansfield would hit its first basket of the contest with 6:43 left in the second quarter as Paige Whitfield drained a 3-pointer. The Warriors, who led by as many as 29 points in the quarter, would see Mansfield work to trim the deficit to 36-17 with 51 ticks left on the clock. Powell hit a jumper with 29 seconds left in the quarter to send the Warriors into the half with a 38-17 advantage,
 
The Mounties would get things going offensively in the third quarter as a three from Sydney Reed cut the ESU lead to 44-25. The Warriors worked the advantage back to 24 points late in the quarter as Lapotsky hit another 3-ball. Powell hit her lone three of the contest with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter to give ESU a 66-40 lead. ESU took its largest lead of the contest with 42 seconds left to play as Swint took a feed from junior Jordan Hertz to make it 73-43. Hertz would finish the contest with nine assists and now has 335 in her career.
 
ESU hits the road on Feb. 13 for a PSAC East matchup against Lock Haven University beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Warriors will play three of their final five contests away from Koehler Fieldhouse. ESU hosts Bloomsburg on Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.