ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– Eastern University Women's Basketball used a furious 27-to-8 rally in the third quarter to cut into a 22-point deficit, but the Eagles were never able to grab the lead and fell to the visiting Stevenson University Mustangs, 68-63. Kay Wulah led the Eagles with 18 points and nine rebounds.

After a brief ceremony honoring the squad's four seniors, the Eagles started the game on fire. Coach Houston's charges connected on their first four shots and led 11-10 after three minutes. four different Eastern players scored in the burst with Jaelyn Harris, Naomi Harris, and Da'Naziah Brown connecting from distance, and Marykate McLaughlin connected on a short jumper on a pass from Viki Kneis.

Wulah became the fourth Eastern player to score from long range and McLaughlin added her second basket of the quarter to pull the Eagles level at 17-17. The Mustangs scored the final basket of the quarter to take a 19-17 lead into the second quarter.

After the Mustangs scored to go up four, Wulah hit again from distance to close the gap to 21-20 with nine minutes left in the half. The Eagles managed only two free throws the rest of the half and went to the locker room down 41-22. Eastern made just 1-of-16 shots from floor and 2-of-4 free throws in the period.

The Mustangs scored the first three points of the second half to build a 22-point lead before the Eagles found a way to use their defense to create offense. Eastern sped the game up and forced seven turnovers. With the game in scramble mode, the Eagles were able to neutralize the effectiveness of the Mustang post game, and shots started to fall. Kneis sparked the run with a diving steal to win back a ball immediately after a turnover. Brown converted the lay-up to start a 14-0 run. Jaelyn Harris had a pair of 3-pointers in the burst and five different Eastern players scored in the 27-to-8 run. Stevenson picked up a put-back basket to close the quarter up five.

"We needed to find our confidence," Head Coach Eric Houston said after the game. "In the second quarter we struggled and it kept adding up. We made a couple big plays on defense and we started to believe the shots were going to fall. We were 10-of-19 from the floor and scored 27 points. They only made three field goals in the second half."

Though the Mustangs only made 1-of-8 from the floor in the fourth, the Eagles were unable to close gap to less than three because the visitors were making free throws. Three Eastern players fouled out and two more finished the game with four fouls. Even so, the Eagles closed a seven-point gap to three and forced a five second count to get the ball with 17 seconds to play. In stepping out to get off a 3-pointer from the corner, Harris put her heel on the sideline and the Eagles were forced to foul. Alexa Sanmartin made both her free throws for the final margin.

Brown and Jaelyn Harris joined Wulah in double-figures. Brown made 4-of-8 shots from the floor to finish with 11. Harris connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Stevenson's Olivia Coleman led all scorers with 21 points. She also grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out four assists, and blocked three shots.

The Eagles (0-6) will travel to DeSales next Thursday to take on the unbeaten Bulldogs in a non-league contest.