MANSFIELD, Pa. – The East Stroudsburg University women's basketball pushed its winning streak to three and secured a home game in the upcoming PSAC Tournament with a 61-47 victory against Mansfield on Wednesday in a PSAC East matchup.
 
ESU (17-8, 13-6 PSAC) used a quick start to the contest and a stout defensive effort in the third quarter to record its second win of the season against the Mountaineers. The Warriors limited Mansfield to a pair of field goals (2-of-12) in the third quarter.
 
Senior Tiffany Lapotsky guided the Warriors with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting. She added eight rebounds, five steals, and three assists, while senior Jordan Hertz tallied 11 points, five assists, and eight rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Julia Kutz finished with nine points and seven boards for the Warriors.
 
ESU scored the opening six points of the contest as Lapotsky finished back-to-back layups to give the Warriors early momentum. Kutz extended the Warriors' advantage to 8-2 after hitting a pair of shots at the charity stripe with 6:27 left in the quarter.
 
Mansfield used a 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead over the Warriors as Alivia Paeglow hit a jumper with 4:35 left in the quarter. Both sides would swap the lead until Lapotsky drained a 3-pointer to make it 15-11 for the Warriors. Mansfield trimmed the deficit to 16-13 before Lapotsky finished a layup with 20 seconds left to make it 18-13.
 
The Mounties used a 5-0 rally to open the second quarter and knotted the score 18-18 after a layup from Paeglow would fall. Lapotsky answered with five straight points to put ESU back on top 23-18. A basket from Hertz with 2:24 left in the half would give the Warriors a 30-27 lead before Mansfield answered with a basket to trim the deficit to 30-29 heading into the half.
 
Hertz drained a trey early in the third quarter to spark a 6-0 run for the Warriors, who increased their advantage to 37-31 with 6:57 left to play. ESU would take its first double-digit advantage of the night as Kutz finished a layup off a steal by junior Abby Schoffstall to make it 44-34. The Warriors would take a 46-34 lead into the fourth quarter as ESU closed with a 12-0 run.
 
The Warriors would lead by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Mountaineers would be unable to trim the deficit to single digits down the stretch. Hertz finished a three-point play for the Warriors at the charity stripe to make it 61-44 with 1:19 left before Mansfield scored the final three points of the contest to close the gap to 61-47 before the final buzzer sounded.
 
ESU limited Mansfield to 32.8 percent shooting from the field and 21.1 percent from 3-point range as the Mountaineers connected on four of their 19 opportunities. The Warriors will host their first PSAC Tournament contest since the 2017-18 season after welcoming in Millersville to Koehler Fieldhouse. ESU hosts Shepherd on Saturday in a key PSAC East matchup beginning at 1 p.m.