ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Needing a win to make the post-season, Eastern University Women's Basketball (13-12, 8-6 MAC Freedom) put together a 30-point fourth quarter to claim an 85-77 win over the visiting MIsericordia University Cougars (20-5, 10-4 MAC Freedom). Kay Wulah scored 11 of her team-high 25 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

How It Happened:
The visiting Cougars erased an 11-point halftime deficit to lead 53-47 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter. With several players in serious foul trouble, the Eagles needed a big play. Jaelyn Harris found Karlea Zazopoulos in the corner, and the sophomore guard hit a contested three-pointer to pull the Eagles to within three points at 53-50. The Cougars answered with a  basket at the other end, but Da'Naziah Brown hit a 3-pointer for the other corner to close the gap to a basket.

After the Cougars split a pair at the line, Wulah finished the frame with two made free throws to send the teams to the final quarter with the Cougars holding a 56-55 lead. Misericordia was 8-of-11 from the floor and 9-of-12 from the foul line in the third. They made all three of their 3-pointers. The Eagles stayed in the game by grabbing five offensive rebounds and not turning the ball over once in the period.

The teams traded points early in the fourth and the score was tied at 62-62 when Brown hit a deep 3-pointer for a three point lead. Seconds later, she and Jaelyn Harris forced a turnover on the press, and Brown made the lay-up for a 67-62 edge. Brynn Schmidt then made a pair of free throws to extend the Eastern lead to 69-62 with six minutes to play. Schmidt was 3-of-4 from he line in the fourth.

Wulah then scored inside on a beautiful pass from Brown, and Viki Kneis split a pair of free throws to cap the 10-to-0 run. The entire run came with both Wulah and Minika Glenn playing with four fouls.

The Cougars cut the deficit to 77-72 with two minutes left, but the Eagles made free throws to keep the lead safe. They shot 15-of-17 from the line in the fourth. Wulah was able to establish position and score and or get fouled seemingly at will in the fourth. On one shot she did miss, Kneis was in place on the weak side for a tip in. Kneis finished the game with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

The Eagles built the 11-point halftime lead with a great performance in the second quarter. They trailed 16-14 after one period, but outscored the Cougars 25-12 in the second. Minika Glenn was 5-of-8 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers, The Eagles held the Cougars to 6-of-14 shooting and allowed only three offensive rebounds. Brown had five defensive rebounds in the period.

Glenn had 13 of her 15 points in the first half. Jaelyn Harris had seven of her 11. Harris finished the game with seven assists.

For the game, Brown went 4-of-6 from the floor and finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. She and Harris each had just one turnover. The Eagles only had ten turnovers in the game.

Misericordia forward Tessa Zamolyi finished with a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds. The junior reached 1,000 career points midway through the first quarter.

Coach Houston Says:
"That was a a big win today. It turns out, we needed it. We were competing on both ends and never gave up. We had some real foul trouble across the board, but we were able to stay disciplined and keep ourselves in the game. Kay had a tremendous all-around performance. She stepped up big time. We show a lot of heart. I thought we did a great job taking care of the ball and working fo the shots we wanted. This was a total team win. We are happy to be in the playoffs, and we understand what we have in front of us. We are ready for the challenge and are looking forward to competing at DeSales on Wednesday."

Up Next:
With Stevens Institute of technology picking up a win over King's College early in the day- the game had gone final by halftime of Eastern's game- the Eagles needed to win their way into the tournament. None of the coaches or players knew the result from Hoboken, but they came into the day believing they would need to win their way into the tournament. The Eagles finished tied with the Ducks at 8-6 but claim the tiebreaker by virtue of today's win against a higher-seeded team. Misericordia is the second seed and will host King's on Wednesday. The Eagles will play at top-seeded DeSales at 7:00 pm on Wednesday.