ERIE, Pa. - The Mercyhurst women's basketball team had 22 turnovers which resulted in 30 Notre Dame College points as the Falcons spoiled the Lakers home opener by a final of 75-66 on Saturday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
The two sides exchanged points over the opening three minutes with neither team able to control with a pair of
Nicolete Newman triples helping the hosts to a slim 10-8 edge with 6:16 remaining in the first. After a miss by
Lauren Lapertosa, Jada Marone found Jessie Stout in the paint for a layup to draw even 10-10. Things got better for the Falcons as two home turnovers helped them to put together a 6-0 push over a 1:28 span finished off by a bucket for Seina Adachi for the 16-10 lead.
Amber Renz was able to stop the run at 16-12 with a layup, before a
Emily Shopene three cut the score to 18-15. Adachi scored six of the final eight points of the frame to give the guests a 24-17 edge through one.
16-seconds into the second Lapertosa trimmed the gap to 24-19, but Jennifer Oduho and Stout kept the Falcons an arms length away at 28-23, 2:38 into the period. A basket from
Meghan Komendarek and pair of foul shots by Shopene made it 30-27 just before the midway point of the quarter. Three minutes later Marone gave the visitors their largest lead of the half at 35-27 thanks to a shot from deep.
Vivian Allison for the Lakers and Stout for the Falcons each knocked down a couple on the charity stripe to bring the advantage to 37-29 with a half-minute to go. Lapertosa found a cutting
Jenna Kunst for a layup, but at the other end of the floor Marone answered with a basket to make it 39-31 at half.
A three from Shopene and layup by
Eliza Oswalt cut the deficit to 39-36, 1:33 into the frame.
Notre Dame re-established their advantage 46-38, thanks to a 7-2 run with Adachi, Oduho, and Kyleigh Ramlow accounting for the points. The Lakers climbed back to within three as Renz laid one in and Newman stuck another triple, but Adachi and Oduho quickly pushed the edge back to 50-43 with five minutes to go. Marone would make the lead the largest of the game at nine on a layup with 1:28 remaining. However, Mercyhurst did not let things get away from them closing the quarter on a 5-1 run finished off by a Shopene free throw to make it 57-52 through three.
Renz, Allison, and Kunst allowed the host to stay within reach at 63-60 with two minutes elapased in the fourth. Unfortunately, for the Lakers consecutive trips down the court by Notre Dame ended in triples out of the hands of Adachi and Ramlow to extend the lead back to nine 69-60 at the 4:20 mark. Mercyhurst would have their chances to close the gap, however over the ensuing two minutes both teams went ice cold from the floor keeping the score right where it was until 3:05 was remaining when Oswalt struck two free throws to end the scorless stretch. Renz would convert on an "and one" opportunity to make it 71-66, but Adachi and Marone each drilled two at the stripe for the final of 75-66.
Mercyhurst shot 49% from the floor to Notre Dame 40.9%. The Lakers scored nine points off of turnovers, compared to 30 for the Falcons.
Newman and Renz led the Lakers with 13 points, while Shopene added 11. Lapertosa was the leading rebounder with nine and had a team-high five assists.
Kori Sidwell, Lapertosa, and Renz each recorded a block on the defensive end.
Marone paced all scorers with 18. Adachi chipped in 17 and Stout also reach double-figures with 12. Marone had seven boards to lead the Falcons.
Mercyhurst returns to action on Wednesday, November 20th at Walsh University in Canton, Ohio.
