WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.- Eastern University Women's Basketball put together a 20-10 run over the final five minutes to top the host Lycoming College Warriors 74-64 in the consolation game of the Hoops for Hounds Tournament. Led by a 13-of-16 effort by sophomore guard Kelsie Patton, the Eagles made 30-of-38 foul shots on the game.

The  host grabbed nine offensive rebounds and forced ten first-half turnovers to grab a 33-28 at intermission. Sophomore forward Meghan Nowak had 10 points on only five shots, but was limited to only 13 mintues of action by foul trouble. Nine Lycoming players made field goals in the first half.

Kaleigh Boreman drained a 3-pointer to start the second half, and the Eagles eventually grabbed a 38-37 lead on a pair of Nowak free throws with just under seventeen minutes to play. Nowak, however, picked up two more fouls in the next ninety seconds and went to the bench with her team down four.

When Lycoming stretched the lead to six on a Julia Antonelli basket at the fifteen minute mark things looked bleak for the visiting Eagles. Tori Grossi made a pair of free throws and Gina DiDomenico hit two straight hoops from long range to give the Eagles a 46-44 lead. DiDomenico made three second-half 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 20 points. The sophomore guard is shooting 45 percent from behind the arc and has made at least one long range shot in 11-of-12 games this year.

Lycoming answered with six straight points to grab a four point edge with nine and a half mintues to go. Patton made a pair of free throws and DiDomenico hit a pair of free throws after Grossi caught a an elbow that forced her out of the game. The game remained a one possession game until the five minute mark. Then the game changed.

Nowak returned to the game and took a nice lob pass from Patton. The sophomore All-American took a solid chop to the arm and her layup attempt rolled out, but she made two free throws. After a pair of stops on defense, the Eastern offense was able to get the ball into their high-scoring forward in the post again and she converted a layup from Patton. DiDomenico then split a pair at the line to put the Eagles up 59-54 with just under three minutes to play in the game. The miss on the second attempt was the only miss in 16 in the final five minutes of the game.

With a five point lead, things looked good for the visiting Eagles, but one more challenge laid ahead. Nowak bumped Lycoming's Janelle Ziminski on a loose ball and was sent to the bench with her fifth. Ziminski made a pair to cut the Eastern lead back to three. Patton made two more foul shots and DiDomenico iced the game with her final 3-pointer on a nice kick-out pass from Patton.

Eastern made ten more free throws for the final margin. The Eagles had attempted only six free throws in each of their two previous games. The 38 attempts and 30 makes are program highs for at least the last six years. Patton finished with career highs in minutes (31), points (18), and assists. She had made only 2-of-9 free throws entering today's game.

Antonelli finished with a game-high 22 to lead Lycoming. Nowak finished with 18 points and eight rebounds in only 20 minutes of action.

The Eagles (5-7) have a week to recover before they travel to PSU-Brandywine for their final non-league test of the year next Saturday.

Box Score