ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - In a thriller on Wednesday night, Eastern Women's Basketball played tremendous defense for three quarters and withstood a late rally to beat the Alvernia Golden Wolves, 47-46, for their seventh win of the season. With the victory, Eastern improved to 3-2 in MAC Commonwealth play, tying their conference win total from last season.

Jeriyah Johnson continued her recent hot streak offensively, tying her season-high with 17 points on seven-of-15 shooting and three-of-five from beyond the arc. After a slow start to the season in the scoring department, the sophomore from Lancaster has been lights out in recent weeks with six double-digit performances in Eastern's last seven games. Wynter Bess was Eastern's second double-digit scorer with 15 points, including some big points early in the third frame, on six-of-13 shooting and three-of-six from distance.

While she only scored four points in the victory, Taryn Woodson was brilliant on the glass with 20 rebounds. It was the third double-digit rebound game of her career, and her second 20-rebound performance in the month of January. Miranda Liebtag and Camila Sosa each scored four points, while Trinity Upton added three points, four rebounds, and a pair of blocks.

For the first three quarters, Eastern's defense was lights out. Of their 56 shots in the first 30 minutes, Alvernia (9-7, 1-4) only connected on nine of them. Furthermore, Eastern held Alvernia's top three scorers - Kayla Williams, Taliyah Malone, and Tamia Wessels - to well under their scoring averages. While the Golden Wolves were able to make a furious comeback in the final frame, Eastern made their biggest stop of the game on the Golden Wolves' final possession to secure the win.

Alvernia jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first 90 seconds, with four of those points coming from Jordan Karmonick. Karmonick was brilliant for the visitors, leading the Golden Wolves with 21 points and 12 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. However, a 13-0 run, which included eight straight points for Johnson, put the Eagles in the driver's seat. Woodson began the rally with a layup, before Johnson scored a pair of triples and a transition layup on three straight Eastern possessions to put the Eagles ahead 12-6. Eastern never trailed the rest of the way. Bess capped off the run with a triple of her own to push the Eastern advantage to 15-6. After Alvernia was able to get one basket back, Sosa and Upton closed out the quarter with field goals of their own to make it a 19-8 Eastern lead at the break.

Johnson and Bess picked up where they left in the first quarter, scoring the first two baskets of the second frame to push the Eagle's advantage to 15 points. Eastern held between a seven and 15 point cushion the rest of the first half, holding the Golden Wolves to just two-of-16 in the quarter. In the opening 20 minutes, Alvernia made just five field goals, four of which came from Karmonick.

Eastern kept the pedal down to begin the third, scoring the first nine points to increase their advantage to a game-high 17. Bess scored five points in the run, including a triple, while Johnson also hit a three and Woodson added another score in the paint. Karmonick hit a three with 2:35 to play to cut the Eastern lead to single digits, but a big basket from Johnson in the final minute put the Eagles back ahead by 10, 41-31, heading into the final frame.

It would not be a comfortable win for the Eagles as Alvernia came roaring back. After making just nine field goals in the first three quarters, the Golden Wolves hit seven in the final 10 minutes. After a tough Johnson jumper in the lane put the Eagles ahead 43-35, the Golden Wolves used a 9-2 run of their own to trim the Eastern advantage to 45-44 with 2:34 to play. However, a jumper from Bess put the Eagles back ahead by three, and the 20th rebound by Woodson in the final seconds put the finishing touches on another important conference win.

"I'm very proud of our team for gutting out a win today," Eastern Head Coach Sarah Fowler said. "Jeriyah got us going early, and Taryn's 20 rebounds surely helped. We talked about having a better start this game, and the team made that happen tonight. We're excited to keep growing and making some noise in the MAC."

Eastern (7-8, 3-2) will be back at The NEST on Saturday afternoon for another MAC Commonwealth matchup with Messiah. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.