WILKES-BARRE, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Basketball erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and survived late struggles at the foul line to emerge with a 63-59 MAC Freedom win at Wilkes University. Kay Wulah scored 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made three steals and blocked two shots to help the Eagles to stay in the top half of the MAC Freedom standings. It is her sixth double-double of the year and second this week.

How It Happened:
With leading scorer Minika Glenn still out with illness, the Eagles (10-9, 5-3 MAC Freedom) traveled north missing a key cog in their attack. The offensive end was a struggle to start the game. Eastern shot only 9-of-33 (27.3%) in trailing 27-24 at halftime. The Eagles made only three shots in 16 attempts in the second quarter.

The defense, however, kept the Eagles in it. Wilkes made only nine shots in the first half as well. Whale and Jaclyn Harris each scored ten points in the first half. With her 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 16-15 early in the second quarter, Harris, a sophomore, became just the eighth Eastern players to hit 100 3-pointers in her career.

The offensive woes got deeper for the Eagles in the third. A woeful shooting period (2-fo-14) was salvaged by 8-of-9 from the foul line. Vicki Kneis made all four of her foul shots and Harris and Sara Haas each made a pair. Even so, the Colonels held a 41-36 edge after three quarters.

Down 43-36 with nine minutes left, the Eagles needed a spark. Jaclyn Harris delivered with her third 3-pointer of the game. The colonels answered with a basket, but the shot sparked an 11-to-3 run that put the Eagles up 47-46. Harris and Wulah combined for all 11 points in the run.

After Wilkes answered with a basket, Wulah and Kneis scored on consecutive possessions for a three-point lead with four minutes to play. The Eastern lead grew to 57-52 on a put-back effort from Kneis with 2:24 on the clock.

The Eagles were able to hold on despite going 6-for-14 from the foul line in the final two minutes. Led by Wulah with a 6-for-6 performance in the frame, the Eagles were 10-of-13 from the floor in the final period.

Harris finished with 19 points and four rebounds. Da'Naziah Brown had five points and six steals. Alyssa Alfano led the Colonels (8-11, 2-6 MAC Freedom) with 13 points.
 
Coach Houston Says:
"We found away to win. Kay put us on her back and took us home. She had a monster game today. That was a outstanding performance. Brynn Schmidt contributed to some key defensive stops and gave us quality minutes. Wilkes gave us a battle today. We hurt ourselves with a lot of missed layups and free throws, but I am proud that we came together to get the win. We have to clean it up for Wednesday."

Up Next:
The Eagles will travel back to Wilkes-Barre to take on King's on Wednesday. The Eagles dropped a three-point heartbreaker to the Monarchs to start the year. With a loss at DeSales today, King's sits one spot in front of the Eagles in third in the league standings. Wednesday's game starts at 8 pm.