ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Despite some late fourth quarter dramatics, Eastern Women's Basketball held off a furious rally down the stretch to defeat the Harcum Bears 65-63 at The NEST on Saturday night. The Eagles led from wire to wire, and
Jeriyah Johnson scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Eagles to victory in their final home game of 2023.
Johnson's 22 points came on 10-of-20 shooting from the field and two-of-five from beyond the arc. The Lancaster native added three rebounds, five assists, and three steals in the victory. Junior forward
Jakaylah Holland scored 10 points and collected eight rebounds, while
Taryn Woodson added eight points and 10 boards for the Eagles.
Camila Sosa also scored eight points off the bench.
Johnson scored the Eagles' first basket with 9:02 to play in the first quarter, and the Eagles never trailed the rest of the way. In the opening 10 minutes, the Eagles shot a blistering 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) from the field and two-of-four from distance to take a 28-13 first quarter lead. With Eastern leading 9-3, Johnson took over, scoring 10 points in a row to put the Eagles ahead 17-5. Johnson hit back-to-back triples before adding a pair of layups on fast breaks. A
Tyerra Jarvis layup in the paint a few moments laters capped off a commanding 14-3 run.
Holland opened the second quarter scoring with a three-pointer to make 31-13, Eastern's biggest lead of the evening. However, Harcum began to push back. The Bears outscored the Eagles 9-0 over the following 4:06 to trim their deficit to just nine points, but field goals from
Miranda Liebtag and Johnson put the Eagles back ahead by double-digits. Eastern led at halftime by a score of 41-26.
The Eagles held their double-digit lead throughout the third quarter and into the fourth, but the Bears found their offensive rhythm and gave Eastern all they could handle. After a
Trinity Upton field goal put the Eagles ahead by 13, the Bears roared back with eight straight point to put themselves within striking distance. A Woodson layup held Harcum off briefly, but the Bears scored two more baskets to make it 65-62 with two minutes to go.
However, the Eagles were able to hold Harcum off at the end, recording some key steals and making some huge stops in the game's waning moments. The Bears had a chance to tie in the last seconds, but their final attempt off a fake free throw came up short. For the contest, Eastern shot 27-of-71 from the field (38 percent) and recorded 17 assists on 27 made field goals.
Eastern will be on the road for a pair of matchups next weekend, beginning with Penn State Harrisburg on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
