EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team was unable to overcome a slow start as PSAC East leading Shippensburg held on for the 76-67 victory on Saturday afternoon inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
Shippensburg grabbed a 15-8 advantage in the first quarter and outscored ESU by only two points (61-59) the rest of the way for the nine-point win.
The Warriors continued their up and down trend, falling to 12-10 on the season and 8-8 in the conference while the Raiders extended their win-streak to five games as well their record to 18-3 overall and 13-3 in the PSAC East.
Shyla Sanford paced the Warriors offensively as the graduate student finished with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
After a slow start to the game,
Ryan Weise registered her fifth double-double of the season as the graduate student tallied 13 points and 10 assists while adding four rebounds and three steals.
Notables
- Junior Carley Adams registered a season-high 12 points to go along with two rebounds and a pair of assists
- Jessica Polin was shy of a double-double as the sophomore finished with nine points while registering career-highs with 11 rebound and five assists
- The teams shot nearly identical percentages from the field as the Warriors went 27-of-65 (41.5%) compared to 26-of-60 (43.3%) for the Raiders. ESU and Shippensburg both made five three-pointers as they combined to shoot 10-of-36
- The free throw proved to be the difference as the Raiders went 19-of-30 (63.3%) compared to 8-of-10 (80.0%) for the Warriors
- Shippensburg's Ariel Jones, who leads the nation in scoring, finished with a game-high 35 points as well as eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Abbie Miller posted a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds while Lauren Pettis contributed 10 points, six boards and a pair of blocks
- ESU took advantage of 18 turnovers from Shippensburg as the Warriors turned them into 21 points compared to four points off 15 turnovers for the Raiders
- The middle of the PSAC East standings continue to shuffle as ESU moves into a tie with Millersville for the fourth seed. The Warriors are scheduled to play Bloomsburg (2/6), West Chester (2/8) and the Marauders (2/11) beginning on Monday next week.
- The Raiders completed the season-sweep of the Warriors, pushing their advantage in the all-time series to 41-20
How It Happened
- In the first 2:14 of the game, Shippensburg raced out to an 8-0 lead before Adams made a layup at the 7:17 mark to get ESU on the board. Then over the final 7:02 of the first quarter, the teams combined to shoot 6-of-22 with the Raiders maintaining a seven-point advantage at 15-8.
- It was back and forth in the first half of the second quarter as the Warriors edged Shippensburg, 11-9, to trim their deficit to 24-19. Out of the media timeout, the Raiders cashed in at the free throw line, going 6-of-8 which helped Shippensburg build a 33-23 lead at the half.
- Shippensburg came out on fire to begin the second half, scoring 12 of the first 18 points, to extend their lead to the largest mark of the afternoon at 45-29. However, ESU answered from the 6:16 mark through the end of the third quarter as the Warriors outscored the Raiders by six during that stretch to draw back within 10 points at 54-44.
- The Warriors cut their deficit to under 10 points at 58-49 and 60-52 at the start of the fourth quarter but five quick points from Shippensburg put them ahead 65-52 with 5:37 remaining. ESU would respond with a 6-1 run of their own to cut the Raiders' advantage to 66-60 with 2:05 on the clock, but it's the closest the Warriors would get the rest of the way.
Up Next
The Warriors are back on the road for a pair of games next week, beginning on Monday with a trip west on I-80 to battle Bloomsburg at 5:30 p.m. from Nelson Field House
