ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Playing their second game in three nights, Eastern University Women's Basketball came up just short in a 60-56 home loss to Freedom-leading King's (17-3, 9-0). The Eagles had a shot to win the game blocked with five seconds left, and the Monarch's  Brittany Muscatell made both free throws for the final margin.

The Eagles, playing without Shante Jones in the line-up, fell behind 14-6 in the first seven minutes, but seven points from Megan Nowak sparked a 12-4 run to tie the game at 18-18. Kaleigh Boreman drained a long three and Bekah Roland dropped in a 12-footer to cap the run with eight minutes to play in the opening half. 

King's answered with six straight points before Katie Lincoln dropped in a 15-foot floater to cut the Monarch lead to 24-20 with four minutes on the clock. Roland battled for a put-back basket to close the gap to two. King's led by three with one minute remaining in the half before Nowak scored the final two baskets to give Eastern its first lead of the game.

Both teams shot right around 40 percent from the floor and made four first-half free throws. Nowak had 13 points at the intermission. Samantha Simcox and Paige Carlin had six apiece for the visitors.

Neither team led by more than four points throughout a back-and-forth second half. Kaitlyn Dougherty scored 10 points in the final 13 minutes of the game to provide offensive punch off the bench for the Eagles.

With Nowak on the bench with four fouls, Lincoln nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 56-56 with four minutes remaining. The Eagles earned a stop but came up empty on the other end. Celia Rader made the only basket of the final four minutes to put King's up two with three minutes to play.

The Eagles had the ball down two with 20 seconds to play. Boreman had a small window from the corner for a three, but Ashley Davies blocked the shot to secure the win for the Monarchs.

Nowak finished with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds, but the Monarch post players kept the Eastern standout from seeing too much of the ball in the second half. Nowak was 7-for-7 from the line to run her streak of consecutive makes to 18. Roland finished with 12 points and Lincoln and Dougherty each had 10. Samantha Simcox led King's with 15 points, and Kaitlin Michaels finished with 12 points seven assists, and a game-high five steals. 

The Eagles (15-5, 6-3) travel to Delaware Valley College for an important Freedom Conference game this Saturday.

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