EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team mounted a second-half comeback to defeat Mansfield, 58-52, on senior day on Saturday afternoon inside Koehler Fieldhouse.
Trailing 30-21 after the first 20 minutes, ESU stormed back in the second half as the Warriors outscored Mansfield by 15 points (37-22), while shooting 10-for-24 overall (41.6%) and an impressive 16-for-19 (84.2%) at the free throw line.
With today's victory, the Warriors secured the No. 5 seed in the PSAC East and wrapped the regular season 10-17 overall and 8-14 in the conference. With the loss, the Mounties (11-16, 8-14) slipped to the No. 6 seed and lost their fourth straight game to conclude their regular season campaign.
In 30 minutes off the bench,
Emily Chmiel notched her seventh double-double of the season and third in the last four games as the junior finished with 15 points (4-for-9 FG, 7-for-8 FT), 12 rebounds, four blocks and one steal.
Playing all 40 minutes for the eighth time this year, junior
Corrin Gill totaled 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Prior to today's game, the Warriors honored seniors
Carley Adams,
Leah Pishock,
Gwenn Sabato and team manager Sebastian Cruz.
Sabato added nine points a career-high nine rebounds, one steal and one assist while Adams registered nine points (5-for-5 FT), four rebounds and one steal. Pishock totaled one point and two rebounds.
Notables
- Junior Izzy Vogel stuffed the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks
- Danae Ellzy paced Mansfield with 14 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Katie Sheeler was in double figures with 12 points while Jasmine Hilton recorded nine points, 11 points, one assist, one steal and one block.
- After a slow start, the Warriors finished 19-for-56 (33.9%) overall and 3-for-15 (20.0%) beyond the arc while the Mounties went 18-for-59 (30.5%) from the field and 5-for-17 (29.45) from long distance.
- With the teams combing to shoot 40 free throws, the Warriors were 17-for-21 (81.0%) while the Mounties shot 11-for-19 (57.9%)
- ESU finished with the edge in rebounds (46-40), offensive rebounds (13-12), points in the paint (28-24) and second chance points (13-7).
- The Warriors avoided the season sweep of Mansfield to stretch their advantage in the all-time series to 62-32, now having won 20 of the last 22 meetings dating back to 2013
How It Happened
- Mansfield started the contest with momentum, building an early 10-3 lead within the first six minutes of the first quarter. Chmiel recorded a pair of layups for the final two minutes of the opening frame to cut the deficit to three.
- After a Kringe triple tied the contest to open the second quarter, the Mountaineers used a 19-9 scoring run to take a double-digit lead at 29-19. Chmiel's third layup of the afternoon cut the deficit down to eight, as a Mountie free throw wrapped up the first half scoring, with Mansfield leading ESU, 30-21.
- The Warriors regrouped at halftime, beginning the second half on a 7-0 run to slice the deficit to just two points at 30-28. The Mounties countered with a 7-2 sprint to take a 37-30 edge. The Warriors fired off an 11-3 sprint over the final 6:22 of the second half to take a 41-40 lead into the fourth quarter. Chmiel recorded eight of ESU's 11 points during the crucial stretch.
- A Mountie 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter lifted Mansfield to a 43-41 advantage, but the resilient Warriors used another 11-3 surge to take a 52-46 lead with 1:36 remaining. Vogel scored six points in the 5:50 stretch of clock, as ESU's defense held the Mounties to a 1-6 mark from the field. Holding a six-point lead with just over a minute remaining, Mansfield cut the deficit to four at 52-48 and three at 53-50, but Gill, Adams and Sabato combined to knock down five of six free throw attempts with under 45 seconds remaining to seal the comeback victory for ESU.
Up Next
ESU earned PSAC East five-seed and will head to fourth-seed Millersville on Monday at 6:00 p.m. for a PSAC East First Round matchup at Pucillo Gymnasium. The winner between the Marauders and Warriors will head to No. 1 seed Lock Haven on Wednesday in the PSAC Quarterfinal round.
