ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Basketball used a balanced attack and a big edge on the boards to earn a 79-75 over the visiting King's College Monarchs. Led by 15 points from Minika Glenn, the Eastern bench scored 44 points and grabbed 29 rebounds in the win.

How It Happened:
Eastern led for most of the game, but the Monarchs (11-9, 5-4 MAC Freedom)  grabbed a 68-67 lead on an Alexis Steeber lay-up with four minutes left. Brianna Young-Harris answered with a tough jumper at the other end, but the Monarchs split a pair of free throws to tie the game and went up by two on an inside basket by Rebecca Prociak. Da'Naziah Brown tied the game with a lay-up at one end before Steeber put the Monarchs up 73-71 on another feed from Prociak.

Naomi Harris then made the first of two free throws but missed the second. Viki Kneis corralled the offensive rebound on the miss to earn another possession. Harris hit both free throws for a brief one-point lead. The Eagles extended pressure to slow the game down, but King's freshman Samantha Rajza got into space behind and put King's up again with less than a minute to play.

Jaelyn Harris missed a tough lay-up attempt at the other end but battled for her own rebound to set the Eagles up with the ball trailing by one. Out of a timeout, Regie Robinson got a good look at a shot in the paint and put the Eagles up. Naomi Harris stole the inbounds pass and earned another trip to the foul line. She made both for a three-point lead with 13 seconds to play. The Monarchs had a contested 3-pointer to tie the game, but Naomi Harris grabbed the rebound and split a pair of free throws at the other end for the final margin.

The Eagles (7-13, 2-7 MAC Freedom) finished with a 43-32 edge on the glass. Glenn finished with a team-high nine rebounds, but all ten Eastern players who saw the floor grabbed at least one rebound.

After leading by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Eagles led 43-39 at halftime. Viki Kneis and Jaelyn Harris each had 11 points as the Eagles made 18-of-34 shots from the floor. The Monarchs stayed in the game on the efforts of Prociak who was 7-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line for 20 points at halftime. She finished the game with 32 points, 17 rebounds, and 7 assists.

King's forged a 49-49 tie on a pair of Prociak free throws midway through the third, but Glenn scored five-consecutive points to spark a 9-0 burst to put the Eagles back up. The burst came with several mainstays on the bench with foul trouble. Megan Bell picked up an assist and a nice basket on a drive in the run, and MaryKate McLaughilin grabbed an offensive rebound. 

The Eagles led 60-53 after three quarters.

Naomi Harris scored ten of her 12 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the foul line. Glenn added six assists and a pair of key steals to her 15 points and nine rebounds. Kneis and Jaelyn Harris each finished with 13 points and 3 rebounds. Kneis made 5-of-7 shots in the game.

The Eagles held the Monarchs to only 2-of-13 shooting from behind the arc in the second half. Steeber and Rajza joined Prociak in double-figures with 16 and 14 points respectively. King's won the first match-up between the two teams by 29 points.

Coach Houston Says:

"This was an excellent team win. We played together for the entire 40 minutes and made good decisions with the ball and did a great job attacking the glass as a team.  I am very proud of them. Naomi hit some big free throws, and we had several players make key defensive plays or hit important shots at critical times in the game. This was a great team win."

Up Next:
The Eagles get another shot at Delaware Valley on Saturday. The Aggies erased a ten-point fourth quarter deficit on the way to a 63-57 win in the first meeting of the season back in December.