ST. DAVIDS, Pa - Eastern Women's Basketball used a 20 point third quarter to defeat the visiting Misericordia Univeristy Cougars on Friday night 70-65. Emily Lavin and Taylor Price combined to scored 38 points in the Eagles win.

"It felt really great to get this one," said Head Coach Eric Houston. "The ladies clicked at both ends of the floor and played not only extremely hard and but together. It was a great team win."  

Eastern (9-8, 3-3 MAC Freedom) opened the game on an 8-2 run before the Cougars (6-11, 2-4 MAC Freedom) came back to take a 13-10 lead. Taylor Price managed to pull the Eagles within one before Regie Robinson hit a fast break layup to give Eastern the lead at 14-13. Misericordia did manage to retake the lead and a desperation 3-pointer as time expired hit nothing but net to make it 23-18 in favor of the Cougars after the first quarter. 

Misericordia managed to stretch its lead to eight at 30-22 early in the second quarter. It looked like once again the Eagles would be unable to stop the opposing team's run. However, Eastern fought all the way back to tie the game at 34-34 with just over two minutes left to play in the half. Lavin and Price combined to score eight of the 12 points during the scoring run. Leanna Forsyth knocked down a pair of free throws with under 30 seconds left to play to give Misericordia a 36-34 lead at the break. 

All season the third quarter has been the Achilles Heal of the Eagles. Since Eastern's loss to Gettysburg on January 4th, Eastern had not outscored an opponent in the third quarter since outscoring the Bullets 13-10 in that game. On this night, however, the third quarter told a different story and really helped decide the outcome of the game. 

The third quarter started with Eastern going on an 8-4 scoring run to take a 42-40 lead. However, it turned into a back and forth battle with both teams trading baskets and small two or four point scoring runs. After the Cougars had tied the game at 46-46, Eastern closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run stretching its lead to 54-46 heading into the final quarter of play. Overall in the third quarter, Lavin and Price combined to score 14 of the Eagles 20 total points netting eight and six respectively. 

"We were very determined to go out and perform and play well," continued Houston. "We were mentally tough and never took our foot off the gas. We knew we had to keep playing hard and just believe in ourselves." 

In the fourth quarter, Misericordia managed to battle all the way back to make it a one-point game at 62-61 with 1:22 left to play. The Eagles knocked down clutch free throws down the stretch going 8-of-8 from the line in the final minute of play to secure the 70-65 victory. 

Price finished the game scoring 20 points and recorded seven rebounds while Lavin netted 18 points and totaled eight boards. Regie Robinson posted her second straight double-double and sixth overall on the season scoring 14 points and totaling ten rebounds to round out the Eastern double-digit scoring. 

"The mental part of her [Lavin] game has been huge for her since returning from injury," said Houston. "She went out and played and battled hard for us tonight. When Lavin is on her game, she is a beast. Everyone stepped up tonight for from Emily to Taylor to Amber, who did a great job stepping up and playing within herself."

Justine Seely led all Misericordia scorers with 28 points while Shannon Croasdale netted ten of her own to round out the Cougars double-digit scorers.   

"We need to be mentally prepared to go in and believe in our abilities," concluded Houston. "We are a tough team and we will be ready to go come Wednesday." 

Eastern travels to DeSales on January 30th for a 6 pm tipoff.