ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Basketball closed out the first half with a 9-to-2 run and pulled away in the third quarter to earn a 65-48 home win over the Wilkes University Colonels in a rare Friday night game. Kay Wulah finished with 16 points, 18 rebounds, five blocks, and four steals to lead the Eagles. Eastern (8-7, 3-1 MAC Freedom) had a 38-22 edge in points in the paint to secure the win.

How It Happened:
Though the Eagles never trailed, the Colonels (6-9, 0-4 MAC Freedom) stayed within striking distance early and were within two points when Gianna Roberts scored inside to make it 26-24 with a little more than three minutes to play in the first half.

Vicki Kneis returned to the game after a rest and made an immediate impact. The junior forward converted a three-point play and a jumper in the paint off a pass from Da'Naziah Brown. After another Eastern stop, Jaelyn Harris hit a driving lay-up. The Colonels responded with a pair of free throws at the minute mark. Both teams had empty possessions before Kneis hunted down a loose ball on the offensive end and beat the buzzer to put the Eagles up 35-26 at the break.

Kneis had 13 points at halftime and  Wulah had ten points and 12 rebounds. Macy Berryman hit three first-half 3-pointers to lead Wilkes with nine.

The lead stayed at nine until Brown and Harris connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to put Eastern up 50-35 with three minutes to go in the third. Eastern led 52-37 at the end of the third. Brown then hit another 3-pointer to spark an 11-to-2 spurt to start the fourth and give the Eagles their biggest lead of the game with under seven minutes to play.

Harris hit two more 3-pointers to give her 40 on the year. Minika Glenn had 12 points, six steals, six rebounds, five assists and two blocks. The Eagles enjoyed a 46-40 edge on the glass. Wilkes was only able to connect on 17-of-51 from the floor. Maddie Kelley led them with 12 points.

Coach Houston Says:
This was a good win for us tonight. We competed on both ends of the floor. Kay had a outstanding performance tonight on the glass and around the basket, and we were able to get good scoring inside from her and Viki. We are playing good basketball right now, and I think we are getting some good offense out of our defense. We understand what we have coming up and are fully locked in. I am proud of the way we played and am pleased to see us get three wins in a row.

Up Next:
The Eastern schedule has some tough challenges in the near future. They will travel to Misericordia on Wednesday and then will host Stevens next Saturday and DeSales the following Wednesday. All three of those teams are in the mix at the top of the league. Misericordia is 13-1 and unbeaten in the MAC Freedom. The Cougars will play at Stevens Institute of Technology tomorrow.