Box Score

ERIE, Pa.- The Mercyhurst women's basketball team lost, 80-69, to Edinboro Wednesday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Adrienne Kloecker scored 24 points in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division game.
 
Jessica Bell sparked the Lakers early on, scoring six points in the first 4:48 of the first half. She had two layups and then Alayna White scored inside twice. After a pair of Edinboro hoops, Bell sank a jumper to tie the game at 10.
 
Kloecker drained a three-pointer at the 14:43 mark, putting Mercyhurst ahead, 13-10. She followed with a jump shot to cut the Laker deficit to 16-15 with 11:32 remaining in the frame. The hosts were stuck on 15 points until the 8:02 mark, when White found Mariah Penascino for a lay-in.
 
Edinboro began to pull away after that, though, as two buckets made it 26-17 with 6:06 left. Kloecker responded by putting her head down and getting to the foul line. She was fouled with 5:22 to go and hit both free throws. After a Fighting Scot basket, Kloecker made two foul shots. Penascino followed with a layup with 3:44 showing on the clock.
 
Kloecker was fouled again with 3:12 left. She split the two foul shots and then grabbed a rebound on the other end. The Erie native eventually sank a trey to make it 30-27 Edinboro with 1:56 remaining. The visitors hit a three of their own, but Kloecker came back with an old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession. The sophomore pulled down another board and then connected on a tying triple with 47 seconds to play in the half. Edinboro scored to close the half with a 35-33 edge.
 
Kloecker scored 19 points in the first half, hitting three three-pointers and 6-7 free throws.
 
In the second period, Edinboro scored the first five points and quickly took an 11-point lead after four minutes of play. The Lakers never got the margin into single digits after that.
 
Kloecker finished with 24 points, continuing her stretch of superb play. In her last five games, the sophomore is averaging 22.2 points per game. On Wednesday, she also tallied eight rebounds in 40 minutes. Bell tied her career high with 10 points. She grabbed five boards. Alex Artise added 10 points, four assists, and four rebounds. White chipped in with six points and seven boards, while Katie Fischer registered seven points and three assists. Natalie Piaggesi scored eight points off the bench. Laurel Lindsay led four Scots in double figures with 20 points.
 
Mercyhurst shot 23-52 (44.2 percent) from the field, while Edinboro hit 30-59 (50.8 percent) of its attempts. The Lakers outrebounded the Scots, 30-25. Mercyhurst has pulled down more boards than its opponent 13 times in 15 outings this season.
 
The Lakers are now 4-11 overall and 2-3 in the PSAC. Edinboro improved to 11-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Mercyhurst plays at Slippery Rock on Saturday, January 18, at 1 p.m.