DOYLESTOWN, Pa.--Eastern University Women's Basketball overcame a season-high 27 turnovers on Saturday afternoon to hold on for a 74-65 win at Delaware Valley College.
Eastern senior forward Meghan Nowak stabilized the Eagles in the second half after the Del Val Aggies threatened a comeback with a 14-2 run. Of the 18 points Eastern scored from 16:36 to 8:54 in the second half, Nowak had 16 of those points. She led the Eagles with 26 points and 15 rebounds with 22 of those points coming in the second half. Eastern's Emily Lavin added 11 points and seven rebounds. Taylor Price recorded 10 points.
Del Val senior forward Breanna Cole recorded a team-high 26 points and 10 boards. Eireann Anastasi added 16, and Agatha Drozd scored 13.
The Eagles stifled Del Val in the first half, holding them to 23.5 percent shooting from the floor. Eastern shot 50 percent in the first half and 52.3 percent for the game.
Eastern went into the locker room up 34-23 and stretched the lead to 15 points after four quick points from Lavin. However, the Eagles, who have done well in controlling the ball and working through opponents' presses, committed 22 turnovers in the second half. The Aggies' take-aways propelled them to an 18-4 run and brought them within one point with 12:59 to play.
Nowak provided an answer with 12:15 to go, earning the first of her three old-school three-point plays in the second half. Nowak shot 8-for-10 from the free throw line, and Eastern hit 26-of-32 free throws for the game.
Del Val pulled within two at 11:21 on a layup by Anastasi, but Nowak went on a 9-0 run to give Eastern a double-digit lead once again.
Eastern maintained at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way and virtually sealed the game with two free-throws by Kaitlyn Dougherty with 2:38 to go. With Del Val forced to foul down the stretch, the Eagles hit 9-of-12 free throws in the final 90 seconds to put the game away.
Eastern, now 7-1 and 2-0 in the Freedom Conference, have 11 days until their next game. They play the No. 7 team in the country, the University of Scranton, on Dec. 17.
Box Score
