EAST STROUDSBURG – A free-throw from senior Jordan Hertz with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter secured a 58-54 victory for the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team against Kutztown on Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.
 
ESU (16-8, 12-6 PSAC) swept the regular-season series against the Golden Bears for the first time since the 2016-17 season and secured a spot in the upcoming PSAC Tournament for an eighth straight year.
 
Redshirt junior Sadie Cresswell scored a game-high 16 points on the night and finished the contest 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Hertz added 13 points, seven assists, and five rebounds for the Warriors. Senior Tiffany Lapotsky tallied 12 points and finished 4-of-5 from the charity stripe, while redshirt sophomore Julia Kutz notched six rebounds, four points, and two blocks.
 
Despite leading just 13:58 in the contest, the Warriors found a way to record their second straight win and erase a 26-20 first-half deficit. The Golden Bears would rally late in the second quarter after ESU took 20-19 lead off a layup from Lapotsky. Kutztown took a 21-20 advantage following a layup from Zoe Zerman and closed the half on a jumper from Rylee Derr to make it 26-20.
 
The Warriors would fall behind 28-20 early in the third quarter as Derr tallied the first two points of the second half. Kutz started a run for the Warriors with a layup to trim the deficit to 28-22. Cresswell closed the gap to four before Hertz hit a pair of free-throws to make it 28-26 with 7:45 left in the quarter.
 
Kutztown worked to increase the lead to 33-26 but would see ESU rally once again as Hertz drained a trey to knot the score 33-33 with 3:08 left on the clock. The Warriors continued their run and would eventually take a 38-33 advantage following a layup from Hertz. ESU would take a 41-36 lead into the fourth quarter as Cresswell hit a late 3-pointer.
 
After leading by as many as seven points early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors would see their lead trimmed to 43-41 following a layup from Brianna Tarabocchia. Both sides would trade buckets midway through the quarter as Kutz gave ESU a 50-49 advantage with 5:22 left.
 
Cresswell and Lapotsky closed the game at the charity stripe for the Warriors as Cresswell hit both of her shots to make it 57-54 before Lapotsky went 1-of-2 to give ESU a 58-54 advantage. Kutztown would get one final opportunity as Casey Remolde took a trey with one second left as her shot would be off the mark.
 
The Warriors shot 13-of-16 from the field in the second half and hit 10 of their 16 free-throws. ESU added 18 points off 15 Kutztown turnovers and outscored the Golden Bears 26-22 in the paint. Kutztown held a 44-28 advantage in rebounds and tallied 16 offensive boards but would only record three second-chance points.
 
ESU heads to Mansfield on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. matchup against the Mountaineers before returning home to host Shepherd on February 22 at 1 p.m. inside Koehler Fieldhouse.