WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The Mercyhurst women's basketball team led 22-18 after the opening quarter, but were unable to hold on as they dropped their season-opener to the Hilltoppers of West Liberty University on day one of the Mountain East Conference / Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover hosted by West Liberty on Friday evening.
Vivian Allison gave the Lakers (0-1) their first basket and lead of the season just 35-seconds in, but then the hosts came back with six straight as a triple by Jaclyn Kitts made it 6-2 with two minutes gone. Mercyhurst responded using a 6-0 run with
Emily Shopene and
Nicolete Newman joining Allison on the scoresheet for the 8-6 edge. With the Hilltoppers up 11-10, a pair of
Amber Renz jumpers and layups by
Eliza Oswalt capped a 10-3 push to give the Lakers the 20-14 advantage. Taylor Johnson netted the final points of the quarter with 14-seconds left for the 22-18 score.
West Liberty began the second on a 5-0 run put together by Moran Brunner and Olivia Belknap to jump ahead 23-22. Buckets from Renz and Shopene knotted the score at 26-26, before a three out of the hands of
Julia Buchman nudged the visitors in front by a slim 29-28 margin with less than three minutes gone. Three consecutive points by Renz upped the gap to 32-28 and
Meghan Komendarek hit a layup to extend the lead to 35-30 with 4:28 left. The Lakers would go on to lead by seven at 37-30, prior to baskets from Audrey Tingle, Grace Fodor, Brunner and Belknap which culminated in a 12-0 run to storm ahead 42-37. Oswalt converted on an and-one opportunity at the 9:58 mark to bring it down to 42-40 at half.
Two free throws each by Allison and Newman helped to put Mercyhurst in front 47-46. The quarter remained nip and tuck over the next couple of minutes with neither side able to take larger than a one-point edge as a foul shot from Corinne Thomas drew the score level 53-53 with 4:04 remaining. Renz would convert on foul opportunities as the Hilltoppers continued to put her on the line where she knocked down four giving the Lakers the largest lead of the frame 60-56. Another free throw this time by Oswalt after she caused a steal stretched it to 61-56 with just over a minute to go. Unfortunately, for the visitors Johnson book-ended an 8-0 West Liberty run to finish the quarter up 64-61.
The host started the fourth hot from beyond the arc with Brunner knocking down a pair of threes in the opening minute to push the advantage to seven 70-63, which resulted in a Mercyhurst timeout. Kitts gave the Hilltoppers their biggest edge to that point with a pair at the stripe 74-63. Newman brought the Lakers back to within single digits burying a three of her own to make it 74-66, but Brunner went right back down the floor sticking a triple to regain the double-digit advantage 77-66 with 6:27 left. Mercyhurst tried to climb back into the contest as a
Lauren Lapertosa layup and Komendarek jumper kept the gap at eleven 81-70. With 2:36 remaining after a defensive rebound by Komendarek she found Newman sprinting down the court for the layup to make it 83-74. However, that was the closest Mercyhurst would get the rest of the way with Tingle scoring the final basket in the 92-79 Hilltopper win.
Both teams shot 43% from the floor, but West Liberty made eight threes to the Lakers two. Mercyhurst also turned the ball over 18 times to the Toppers 13.
Newman led the way with 21 points, while Renz and Oswalt also hit double-figures with 17 and 13 respectively. Allison, Newman, and Lapertosa paced the team on the glass combining for 22 boards.
Brunner picked up a game-high 29 points, followed closely by 22 from Johnson. Belknap also netted 16. Tingle was the leading rebounder for the Hilltoppers with eight.
Mercyhurst returns to the court tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm when they face the University of Charleston in day two of the MEC/PSAC Challenge at West Liberty.
