STROUDSBURG, Pa. - The Mercyhurst women's basketball team held a 55-53 lead with 6:38 left in the fourth, but were outscored 24-10 the rest of the game as they dropped their second Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference game of the weekend by a score of 77-65 to the Warriors of East Stroudsburg on Saturday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.
The two sides exchanged buckets in the opening minute with
Kori Sidwell and Jordan Hertz supplying the offense. Two
Amber Renz layups helped the Lakers survive a pair of two-point deficits at 4-2 and 6-4 to draw even 6-6. Renz then added five straight along with an
Emily Shopene two to open up a 13-6 edge with 4:31 to go. Tiffany Lapotsky and Julia Kutz pulled the hosts to within 13-9, but
Julia Buchman and Shopene closed the frame on a 6-0 push to make it 19-9 after one.
Mercyhurst continued to grow their lead with a layup from Renz and foul shots by
Lauren Lapertosa making it 23-13 with 7:24 to play in the half. Sadie Cresswell and Shopene exchanged triples at either end of the floor to keep the Lakers up seven 26-19. With the score 26-19, a 6-0 run by East Stroudsburg led by four for Lapotsky cut it to 28-25 with 3:14 left. Renz, Sidwell, and Buchman finished the quarter on a 6-2 push to lead 34-27 at half.
The Warriors came out flying with a 13-6 charge with baskets from Lapotsky, Hertz, and Cresswell helping the hosts get back to even 40-40 at the 3:59 mark. With the score knotted 42-42, a 4-0 solo run for Lapotsky gave ESU the 46-42 edge. A fastbreak bucket by
Vivian Allison and foul shots for Renz had the contest knotted 46-46 after three.
A layup by
Stephanie Petery gave Mercyhurst a 54-50 lead at the 2:35 mark as the Lakers looked to seize control of the game, however, a triple for Cresswell and bucket for Lapotsky tied the game at 55-55 with 6:18 remaining. East Stroudsburg responded quite strong with Abby Schoffstall, Kaitlyn Swint, Hertz, and Lapotsky stringing together a 10-0 charge to spring ahead 65-55 just under five minutes to go. Hertz got the Warriors their largest edge of the game with a three-pointer at 71-59. From that point on the home team would keep its distance thanks to the foul line and saw out the 77-65 final.
Both teams shot well from the field with ESU going at a 49.1% clip to Mercyhurst 48.1%, but ESU went 6-9 from deep to the guests 2-6. The Lakers held a 9-2 advantage in bench scoring.
Mercyhurst was led by 27 from Renz with Shopene adding a dozen as well. Sidwell chipped in nine and finished just off a double-double pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Lapotsky had 30 and Hertz potted 22 to pace the Warriors. Cresswell also was in double figures with 11. Kutz had a team-high 7 boards.
The Lakers will have some time before their next game when they take on the Griffins of Seton Hill on Friday, January 3rd at 5:30 pm inside the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
