WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The Mercyhurst women's basketball outscored the Golden Eagles of Charleston 25-8 off the bench, but it was not enough as the Lakers dropped the game 72-57 on day two of the MEC/PSAC Challenge hosted by West Liberty University.  

Mercyhurst (0-2) scored the first bucket of the game 23-seconds in when Emily Shopene knocked down the midrange jumper, but Charleston scored the next four on a basket by Anna Hayton followed by a pair at the foul line from Erykah Russell for the 4-2 edge three minutes in.  After Shopene pulled down a defensive rebound she found Amber Renz in the paint for a layup and a tie at 4-4 at the five minute mark.  A triple from Nicolete Newman, layup by Renz, and jump shot knocked down by Kori Sidwell gave the Lakers three separate one-point leads with the last one coming at 11-10 with 1:19 remaining.  A steal and bucket by Tayliyah Hopkins in the final minute gave UC the 12-11 edge through one.  

With Mercyhurst trailing 16-13 early in the second, Shopene knotted the game up at 16-16 with three-pointer after the setup by Eliza Oswalt.  A jumper by Emily Simon sparked an 8-0 run by the Golden Eagles over a 1:29 span culminating in a free throw from Hopkins to make it 24-16 with 4:43 remaining.  Stephanie Petery brought the Lakers within five 26-21, on a three with just under four minutes left.  However, a basket from Megan Haines and foul shots by Dakota Reeves extended the advantage to nine 30-21 at the 7:28 mark.  Renz scored five of the Lakers final seven points of the half with the other two coming from Lauren Lapertosa to bring the deficit to 34-28 at the break.  

Charleston came out of the half with a 5-0 run thank to an and-one conversion by Hayton and a jumper by Russell to make the lead double-digits 39-28 with 8:44 left in the third.  Shopene and Meghan Komendarek helped cut the margin to 39-32, but Simon delivered a three-pointer to stall the momentum at 42-32.  That sparked Mercyhurst as they mounted a 6-0 charge in a 1:22 stretch on buckets by Lapertosa and Sidwell to bring the score to 42-38.  Unfortunately, a 9-0 flight led by seven points from Hayton bumped the gap back out to 51-38.  Komendarek drilled a pair of free throws with five seconds left to make it 51-43 after three.

Five straight points by Lapertosa to begin the fourth brought what was a 13-point deficit down to just three 51-48 with 8:42 to go.  After, both teams had two empty trips the Golden Eagles looked to gain control as Reeves and Russell put together a 7-0 run to push the edge back to ten 58-48.  A short jumper fromm Shopene just under the five minute mark cut the gap to 58-50, However Charleston would use a 10-2 charge to establish a 16-point cushion 68-52, and the Lakers would never get any closer as a Shopene three with 24-seconds left was their final basket of the game in the 72-57 defeat.

Charleston shot 45.5% from the floor to the Lakers 37.1%, but Mercyhurst was better from deep knocking down six triples to the Golden Eagles one.  Charleston also held a slim edge on the glass 38-35.

The Lakers leading scorer was Renz off the bench with 13, while Shopene added 12 with Lapertosa falling just shy of double-figures with nine.  She was however the team's leading rebounder with seven followed by six for Komendarek.  Shopene handed out seven assists.

Hayton had a game-high 24 for Charleston.  Russell and Simon both reach double-figures with 16 and 11 respectively.  Russell completed the double-double by pulling in ten rebounds.

Mercyhurst hits the home floor for the first time in their next game when the Falcons of Notre Dame College visit the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Saturday, November 16th.