ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst women's basketball team upset No. 6 Indiana, 66-61, during Saturday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference contest in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. With the victory, the Lakers (8-12, 6-8) earned their second win over a ranked team in eight days. The Lakers avenged an 89-38 loss at IUP on Jan. 6.
 
Emily Norris recorded her second double-double of the season, totaling 23 points and 12 rebounds. Lauren Lapertosa added 10 points and seven rebounds. Maria Lapertosa and Emily Shopene grabbed seven rebounds each while finishing with six and five assists, respectively.
 
Indiana (17-2, 15-2) was led by Carolyn Appleby who had 21 points. Brittany Robinson hauled down seven rebounds while Lauren Wolosik contributed five assists and five steals.

Shopene buried a three-pointer with 24 seconds left in the contest, giving Mercyhurst the lead for good. The basket put the host Lakers ahead 62-59 before a game-tying attempt by Appleby missed its mark.

Norris made 1 of 2 free throws with nine seconds remaining, extending the gap to 63-59. Appleby answered with a layup, pulling the Crimson Hawks within two points. Kori Sidwell hit 1 of 2 freebies for MU, but missed the back-end, which Norris rebounded and put back to forge a 66-61 score and put the game out of reach.

The Lakers had led the contest early, 6-2, before the Hawks answered with an 11-0 run, including five points from Appleby. 

IUP widened the gap with 21-12 in the second quarter, but then Mercyhurst got itself back in the contest with a 13-2 stretch of its own. Lauren Lapertosa capped that rally with back-to-back three-pointers, helping the Lakers to a 25-23 lead.

The Crimson Hawks regained the lead, going up 35-29, before Norris scored all five Laker points during a half-ending 5-0 streak. IUP led at intermission, 35-34. After that, the second half featured five different tie scores -- the final one at 59-all -- before Shopene broke the knot with her go-ahead trey.

Mercyhurst won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Indiana, 40-30. The Lakers finished 21 of 55 from the field (38.2 percent), including 6 of 16 from three-point territory (37.5) while IUP was 24 of 57 (42.1) and 4 of 17 (23.5), respectively. From the line, the Lakers went 18 of 25 (72.0) and Indiana was 9 of 11 (81.8).

The Lakers will play next on Wednesday when they visit PSAC opponent Clarion.