SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Senior Tiffany Lapotsky scored a game-high 16 points but it wouldn't be enough to get the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team past Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon as the Raiders tallied a 59-46 victory at Heiges Field House.
 
ESU (14-7, 10-5 PSAC) would be plagued by low scoring outputs in the second quarter and early in the third quarter as Shippensburg extended its lead 21-points. The Warriors also struggled to get to the free-throw line in the contest, going just 4-of-6 while the Raiders finished 13-of-19.
 
Lapotsky finished 7-of-15 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range in the contest to go along with a pair of steals. Redshirt sophomore Julia Kutz added eight points and eight rebounds, while redshirt junior Sadie Cresswell tallied eight points and a pair of treys. Junior Kaitlyn Swint delivered four blocks in the contest for ESU.
 
The Warriors opened the scoring in the contest as Lapotsky drained a trey off a feed from senior Jordan Hertz. Kutz would extend the Warriors' lead to 5-2 with 8:23 left in the opening quarter. Shippensburg rallied to take a 9-7 advantage with just under six minutes to play as Lauren Mills went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe. Cresswell gave ESU a 14-13 lead after draining a 3-pointer before the Raiders answered with a layup to take a 15-14 edge into the second quarter.
 
Shippensburg opened the second quarter with 4-0 rally before Cresswell drained her second trey of the afternoon to trim the deficit to 19-17. The Raiders increased their lead to 24-17 before junior Abby Schoffstall hit a jumper in the paint to trim the gap to five. Swint hit a shot at the free-throw line to cut the gap to four for ESU with 1:10 left in the half. The Raiders closed the half on a 4-0 run to take a 30-22 lead into the break.
 
It would be a 13-0 run to open the second half that put plenty of breathing room between the Warriors and Raiders as Ariel Jones capped Shippensburg's run with a jumper to make it 43-22. Cresswell would snap the Warriors' scoring drought with a jumper in the paint at the 5:46 mark to make it 43-24. The Raiders stretched their lead to 53-28 as ESU looked to trim the deficit with time running off the clock in the quarter. ESU closed the quarter with a 9-0 run to cut the gap to 53-37 as Lapotsky tallied each point for the Warriors.
 
The fourth quarter wouldn't feature much scoring as Shippensburg worked to increase its lead back to 19 as Jones hit a 3-pointer to make it 58-39. ESU cut the gap to 15 points on a pair of occasions before tallying the final points of the contest as Schoffstall hit a layup to make it 59-46.
 
Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field in the contest and struggled from downtown as ESU finished 19-of-59 from the field and 4-of-11 from downtown. Shippensburg tallied 18 points off ESU turnovers in the contest, while the Warriors scored 17 points of Raider miscues. The Warriors tallied seven blocks as a team in the contest as different players recorded at least one.
 
ESU heads to Bloomsburg on Wednesday for a PSAC East matchup against the Huskies beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Warriors return to Koehler Fieldhouse on February 8 for a 1 p.m. matchup against Millersville on Alumni Day.