ST. DAVIDS, Pa.-- While the result was never in question, Eastern University Women's Basketball had to overcome a rough stretch in the second half to hold off a late charge from the visiting PSU-Brandywine Nittany Lions (2-8) to emerge with a 89-67 win. Meghan Nowak earned her fifth double-double of the year with a 23 point and 12 rebound effort.

The Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a pair of Nowak lay-ins surrounding a Kaleigh Boreman jumper. The Lions closed the gap to 6-5 on five straight points from Emily Thompson, but they would not get any closer as Bekah Roland hit her only 3-pointer of the game and to spark the Eagles to a 23-7 run over a seven minute burst. 

Eastern led by 24 with two minutes to play in the half before the Lions scored the last five points before the break to pull the deficit back to 19 at 44-25. Shante Jones, who finished the game one rebound short of a triple-double, led all scorers at intermission with 11. Roland had nine and Nowak had eight, and the Eagles held a commanding 29-20 lead on the boards. Thompson led the Lions with eight.

Boreman hit a three to start the second half, and the Eagles looked to have things on cruise control as they used inside basket after inside basket to build the lead up to 27 points with 15 minutes to play.

The lead remained at 27 when Gina DiDomenico buried a 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key for a 66-39. The game then went south for the home side as Penn State Brandywine forced turnovers and converted with alarming efficiency. The Lions put together a 24-7 run to close the gap to eight points with four minutes on the clock.

The Eagles responded with a 16-2 run over the final four minutes for the final margin. Eastern made six of seven field goal attempts and all three field goal attempts down the stretch.

Roland ended the contest with 22 points and eight rebounds. Boreman had 12 points, and Jones had 13 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, and five steals. She only took seven shots in the contest. 

Cashea Hinton led the guests with 18 points off the bench. Amanda Congialdi had 17, Bobbi Caprice 15, and Thompson 12 in supporting efforts.

The win pushes the Eastern record to 7-2 to secure the best first semester record in program history. The Eagles will break for Christmas and will return for four games in seven days starting Jan. 5 at Cedar Crest College.