WILKES-BARRE, Pa.--Eastern University Women's Basketball put the Wilkes University Colonels on lockdown Wednesday night, holding them to 27.1 percent shooting from the floor.
The Eastern Eagles improved to 16-4 overall and 8-1 in the Freedom Conference with the 81-52 win. With five conference games to go, the Eagles sit one game behind FDU-Florham and three games ahead of DeSales and Delaware Valley who are in a tie for third.
Meghan Nowak posted 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds and dealt a team-high five assists. The last time Nowak faced Wilkes, she only went 3-for-10 from the floor, scoring 12 points. She hadn't scored 20 points against Wilkes since dropping 29 on them her freshman year.
Emily Carmel reached double-digits for the first time this season, shooting 3-for-4 from 3-point range and 4-for-5 overall to finish with 11 points. Kaleigh Boreman also joined the double-digit club with 10 points. She got it done from the free-throw line, going 6-for-7, and also pulled down eight rebounds.
Wilkes was led by senior Elena Stambone who scored 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
The Eagles took the lead on the opening basket and never trailed in the win. Eastern began to seperate from Wilkes with back-to-back 3-pointers by Emily Carmel six minutes into the first half. The Eagles soon had a double-digit lead and had their biggest first-half lead with 3:05 to go after Taylor Price's trey made it 26-11.
Wilkes, who shot a dismal 20.6 percent in the first half, managed to cut Eastern's lead to eight points with a Stambone layup to start the second half. Eastern would not let the Colonels advance any closer than that. The Eagles outscored the Colonels 27-10 through the first 10 minutes to really pull away. Eastern shot 53.1 percent from the floor in the second half and led by as many as 32 points in the period.
In the Eagles' 16 wins this season, they are out-scoring their opponents by an average of 22 points per game (76.8-54.8).
Eastern will challenge the No. 1 team in the nation for the second time this season when they host FDU-Florham on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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