ERIE, Pa. – In what was a close game throughout on Wednesday evening at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center, it was the visiting Seton Hill women's basketball team that scored the final five points of the game to edge Mercyhurst by a final of 70-68 in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division contest. The Lakers had their four-game winning streak snapped as they fell to 7-12 overall and to 5-9 in the conference. The Griffins improved to 8-10 and to 5-8 respectively.
The game was back-and-forth throughout as the contest featured a dozen ties and eleven lead changes. Seton Hill had the largest lead of the contest - eight points - on four different occasions. Behind Mariah Wells' seven points in the first half, the Griffins led by as many as eight late in the opening twenty minutes before settling for a 30-24 advantage at the break. Both teams were balanced in the first half as Seton Hill had eight different players score at least one point while Mercyhurst had six. Junior
Adrienne Kloecker and sophomore
Katie Fischer led the Lakers in the first half with six points apiece.
Seton Hill opened another eight-point advantage early in the second, but the Lakers battled back to square things at 41. Then, after Kloecker hit a triple to give the Lakers a 44-41 advantage with 14:15 left - their first lead since holding a 10-8 lead - the back-and-forth play ensued. Neither team led by more than three points over the final 14 minutes of regulation as the game was tied at 49, 52, 54, 57, 59, 61, and 63. The Lakers eventually took a three-point advantage, 68-65, when Fischer netted a couple of free throws with 66 seconds left.
Those, unfortunately, would be the final points Mercyhurst scored and that is when Wells took over for the Griffins. Wells hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 68-68 with 49 seconds remaining and then her subsequent steal and layup with 30 ticks on the clock proved to be the final points of the game.
The Lakers had a chance at the buzzer after Seton Hill's Meghan Mastroianni missed the front end of a one-and-one at the foul line. Freshman
Hannah Centea pulled down the rebound and the Lakers moved the ball around until they found a wide-open Kloecker in the far corner with one second remaining. The junior's three-point attempt, however, was too strong and the Griffins escaped.
Kloecker led the Lakers with 19 points and her three-pointer with a little over two minutes remaining was the last field goal for the Lakers. Fischer added 13 of Mercyhurst's 15 points from its reserves in 22 minutes of action. Sophomore
Alex Artise (12), sophomore
Natalie Piaggesi (11), and sophomore
Jessica Bell (10) also finished in double figures for the Lakers. Piaggesi also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds - her seventh double-double of the season with six of those coming in the last ten games. Only Fischer and redshirt junior
Kelley McBroom (2) scored off the bench for Mercyhurst. Reserves accounted for 30 points for Seton Hill.
Chelsea Apke and Wells led Seton Hill with 14 points apiece. Apke also had a team-high ten rebounds.
The Lakers outrebounded the Griffins 37-36, but Seton Hill had a 13-7 advantage on the offensive boards. Seton Hill attempted 17 more shots than Mercyhurst and totaled six more field goals.
Mercyhurst will step out of conference this Saturday evening when it squares off against Ursuline at John Carroll University. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
