INDIANA, Pa. - The Mercyhurst women;'s basketball team fought tooth and nail all night long and led by eight at halftime, but was unable to hold off the eleventh-ranked Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks as the home side rallied in the second half to win 61-55 at the Kovalchick Athletic Complex on Monday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play.

The two sides shared the opening four points of the game before Mercyhurst went charging ahead on a 9-0 run with baskets from Emily Shopene, Kori Sidwell, Amber Renz, and Nicolete Newman to lead 11-2 at the four minute mark.  IUP came back with the ensuing four points with layups out of the hands of Maura D'anna and Lexi Griggs to close within 11-6.  The Lakers maintained the lead and pushed it to seven as Shopene took a feed from Jenna Kunst in the paint for the layup and the 15-8 edge with 3:09 to go.  The Crimson Hawks picked up a pair at the line and a bucket from Griggs to bring the margin to 15-12 after one.  

With the visitors in front by just three, 17-14, the Lakers looked to open things up a little bit as Shopene split a pair of free throws before Newman scored four consecutive points to extend their advantage to 22-14 just over halfway into the second.  IUP continued to try and scratch their way back in the frame, unfortunately for them Shopene and Newman knocked home a three-pointer apiece to give Mercyhurst a double-digit lead 28-18 with 72-seconds remaining.  Justina Mascaro hit a turnaround layup just prior to the buzzer to pull within 28-20 at the half.

The Crimson Hawks came out of the locker room flying as seven points from Natalie Myers along with a pair of Mascaro layups began an 11-0 flight over a 2:41 span to move the home side ahead 31-28.  Renz brought the charge to a halt briefly as she was smacked going to the hole by D'anna resulting in two from the line to make it 31-30, but Griggs went right back down the other end and hit two of her own to re-establish the three-point cushion 33-30.  That IUP advantage was short-lived when Newman converted on an "old-fashioned" "and-one" opportunity to draw even 33-33 at the 3:38 mark.  Myers and Mascaro responded with a 7-0 run with five of those coming from Mascaro to open up a 40-33 edge with three minutes to go.  A triple from Sidwell, layup by Jenna Kunst, and foul shots for Lapertosa along with Shopene had the Lakers ahead 41-40 at the minute mark.  Shopene would hit one hook shot with 15-seconds left to hold a 43-42 lead after 30-minutes.

The teams exchanged the opening ten points of the fourth as a right-corner triple from Shopene erased a two-point IUP lead and made it 48-47 Lakers 2:20 in.  However, that was answered just over a minute later when Courtney Alexander hit from beyond the arc on the right-wing.  That sparked IUP as they went on a 10-1 run to up up a sizable 57-49 advantage at the 7:57 mark.  Consecutive finishes at the rim by Renz kept the guests alive at 57-53, but a foul shot for D'anna and from Alexander quickly pushed the margin back to seven 60-53 under a minute to go.  Mercyhurst could not get over the hump from there as the Crimson Hawks were good enough on the foul line down the stretch to hang on 61-55.  

For the game Mercyhurst shot 32.8% from the field, 27.3% beyond the arc, and 61.1% at the line.  IUP was 41.7% on the floor, 50% from deep, and 65.4% foul shooting.  The Lakers held a slim 36-34 edge on the glass and caused the Hawks to turn the ball over 20 times to their 17.  

Newman led a trio of Laker double-digit scorers with 16, followed by 14 for Shopene and 11 out of Renz.  Sidwell added seven.  Renz was the leading rebounder with seven.  Lapertosa, Sidwell, and Kunst each hauled in five.  

Mascaro had a game-high 20, with Myers and Griggs each hitting double-figures with 12 and 10 respectively.  Myers had a game-high nine boards.

Mercyhurst is back at it on Wednesday, January 8 when they travel to Clarion for a 5:30 pm tip.