INDIANA, Pa. – Senior Tiffany Lapotsky finished with a game-high 21 points but it wouldn't be enough for the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team as the Warriors dropped a 67-54 decision on Saturday in the PSAC Women's Basketball Semifinals.
 
ESU (20-10) made its first appearance in the PSAC Semifinals since 2016-17 after the Warriors defeated Bloomsburg on Wednesday in a PSAC Quarterfinal contest inside Koehler Fieldhouse. The Warriors also notched their fifth 20-win season in program history and first since 2006-07.
 
Lapotsky finished with eight field goals and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, while senior Jordan Hertz added nine points, six rebounds, and six assists. Redshirt junior Sadie Cresswell tallied 11 points, while redshirt sophomore Julia Kutz added seven points.
 
IUP scored the first three points of the contest before Kutz would get the Warriors onto the scoreboard with a layup to trim the deficit to 3-2. Trailing 8-4, ESU rallied to knot the score 8-8 as Hertz finished a layup with 3:20 remaining in the first quarter. The Crimson Hawks scored the final nine points to take a 17-8 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Crimson Hawks pushed their lead to 19-8 before Lapotsky hit a pair of free throws with just over nine minutes left in the half. ESU cut the deficit to 19-12 following a layup by Lapotsky before IUP increased its lead to double-digits. IUP led by as many as 16 points in the quarter before Cresswell trimmed the gap to 34-21 heading into the half.
 
ESU would work to bring the IUP lead down to single-digits three different times in the third quarter as Cresswell made it 37-28 after draining a 3-pointer. Kutz followed with a layup later to make it 39-30 before Cresswell added a pair of free-throws to make it 40-32. The Crimson Hawks used another run to close the quarter and would take a 17-point cushion into the fourth quarter.
 
Lapotsky caught fire from the field to open the fourth quarter as she tallied six unanswered points to cut the IUP lead to 51-40 with 7:06 remaining in the contest. She would later trim the deficit to 63-52 after draining a trey before IUP added a pair of points at the charity stripe. Cresswell hit the final shot of the contest with 10 seconds remaining off an assist from sophomore Maggie Wigoda.
 
The Warriors will wait to see if their season continues as the NCAA DII Women's Basketball Selection Show will be held on Sunday, March 8 at 10 p.m. on www.ncaa.com. The Warriors were ranked 13th in the latest Atlantic Region Poll that was released before ESU's quarterfinal victory against Bloomsburg. Eight teams will be selected to compete in the regional tournament. ESU last qualified for the NCAA DII Tournament in 1994-95.