DALLAS, Pa.-Eastern University Women's Basketball fell 68-56 at
Misericordia and dropped into fourth place in the Freedom Conference
standings.
Bekah Roland finished with 21 points to lead the Eagles in defeat.
Misericordia (13-9, 8-3) opened the game with their entire defense geared to stop Meghan Nowak. While they were able to limit the first-year standouts touches early on, the Eagles used inside hoops from Bekah Roland to earn a a 4-2 lead. When Nowak picked up her second foul after two minutes and 43 seconds, The Eagles attack moved to the perimeter, and a 15-footer from Kaleigh Boreman and a Katie Lincoln 3-pointer stretched the Eastern lead to 9-2.
The perimeter-based offense caught up to the Eagles, and so did the Cougars. The hosts scored 10 of the next 12 points to grab a 12-11 lead. Roland made a pair of free throws and answered a Misericordia basket with a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 16-14 lead.
Misericordia went up 19-16 on a Jesse Robinson lay-in and a Tyann McDaniel 3-pointer. The Eagles again found the range with three more outside shots to grab a 24-19 advantage with seven minutes to play in the opening half.
The Cougars answered with consecutive triples to take the lead for good. The Cougars led 33-27 with less than five seconds remaining before Lori Wileczek went coast-to-coast on the inbounds to pull the Eagles within four at 33-29.
Roland led all scorers with 11 points at half.
The Cougars picked up a third foul on Nowak on their second possession of the half, and Nowak was limited on both offense and defense the rest of the way. Even so, the Eagles kept the deficit at three for much of the second half. The Cougars, however, pushed the lead to nine on consecutive baskets from McDaniel and Hannah Seely. Eastern cut the deficit to six with two minutes left, but they were unable to follow stops with scores and the Cougars made their free throws down the stretch for the win.
Lincoln finished with 12 points and was the only other Eastern player to join Roland in double-figures. Nowak attempted only four shots and finished with eight points. Christine Marks led four Cougars in double-figures with 16 points.
Eastern (16-6, 7-4) returns to action on Saturday afternoon with a home game against Wilkes.
