EAST STROUDSBURG – A valiant comeback effort fell short as the East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team was defeated by Mercyhurst, 63-56, in the PSAC opener for both teams on Friday afternoon inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
ESU lost consecutive games for the first time this season as the Warriors dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference while the Lakers improved to 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in the PSAC.
Mercyhurst raced out to a 23-8 lead at the 6:59 mark in the second quarter but the Warriors battled back with a 11-2 run to trim the Lakers' edge to 25-19. ESU continued to chip away as the Warriors outscored Mercyhurst, 21-18, in the third quarter to pull within three points at 43-40. Late in the fourth quarter, Mercyhurst maintained a 54-46 edge until the Warriors scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 56-52. It was the closest ESU got the rest of the way as the Lakers ended the game on a 7-4 spurt.
Notables
- Senior Carley Adams matched a career-high with 14 points which included going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Adams became the sixth player in program history since 2002-03 to record a 100% free throw percentage with a minimum of 10 makes.
- Junior Izzy Vogel added nine points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists while fellow classmate Katie Geisler registered nine points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal
- Junior transfer Emily Chmiel notched seven points as well as seven rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench and junior Jessica Polin posted seven points, two steals, one rebounds and one assist
- Junior Corrin Gill totaled six points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals while junior Cassidy Saylor contributed four points and six rebounds
- Mercyhurst was led by a trio of triple double digit scorers led by Danielle Grim with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Lauren Klare (five rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block) and Sophia Kelly (two steals, one rebound) each poured in 11 points
- The Lakers shot 21-for-47 (44.7%) overall from the field and 6-for-19 (31.6%) from beyond the arc while the Warriors finished 18-for-49 (36.7%) from the floor and 1-for-8 (12.5%) from the three-point distance
- The teams combined to shoot 45 free throws as ESU went 19-for-25 (76.0%) compared to 15-for-19 (78.9%) for Mercyhurst
- ESU finished with the edge in rebounds (33-30), points off turnovers (16-13) and points in the paint (32-22)
How It Happened
- With ESU ahead 3-0 one minute into the game, the Lakers scored five straight points before the Warriors battled back with a 5-0 run to take a lead 8-5. Over the final 3:19 of the first quarter, Mercyhurst produced an 8-0 run to regain a 13-8 edge.
- Mercyhurst carried over momentum into the second quarter as the Lakers scored the first 10 points of the period to push the lead to 23-8. ESU settled in over the final 5:19 of the half as the Warriors went on an 11-2 run with the help of five points from Polin to cut the deficit to 25-19.
- With the Lakers ahead 32-23 at the 7:32 mark in the third quarter, ESU went on a 5-0 run over the next minute-plus to make the score 32-28. Mercyhurst responded with a 5-1 spurt to regain a 34-28 edge, but the Warriors closed out the period on an 11-6 run, which included knocking down 7-for-8 from free throw line, to pull within three points at 43-40.
- Mercyhurst opened the final period with a 6-0 run to go back up 49-40, but the Warriors battled back with a 6-2 spurt to cut the deficit to 51-46. ESU trimmed the gap to four points at 54-50 and 56-52 but the Lakers finished the game on a 7-4 run to hold on for the victory.
Up Next
Conference play continues tomorrow afternoon for ESU as the Warriors take on #9/13 Gannon at 1 p.m. inside Koehler Fieldhouse
