READING, Pa. - Trailing by eight with 1:02 left to play, Eastern Women's Basketball embarked on a furious rally, tying the contest at 77-77 with seven seconds left on the clock and overtime looming. The Golden Wolves, however, hit the game-winning layup at the buzzer, handing the Eagles a crushing 79-77 loss. Jeriyah Johnson, Damiyae Moyet, and Trinity Upton each knocked triples on three straight possessions, but Alvernia's Jordyn Ingelido secured an offensive rebound and putback at the death to secure the win for the home team.

Johnson had her best offensive outing of the year against the Golden Wolves with 29 points, a season-high and one point of her career-best, on 10-of-16 shooting and six-of-seven from beyond the arc. Johnson also collected five rebounds and six assists. Moyet finished with 15 points on five-of-six shooting from distance, and Upton scored a career-high 13 points on two triples to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. The Eagles recorded their best shooting performance of the season, finishing 28-of-42 (45.2 percent) from the field and a remarkable 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) from three-point range. The Eagles' 14 made three-pointers are the most they have made in a game since January 13, 2018, when they knocked down 15 triples in a 93-79 win over Wilkes.

Eastern scored 14 points in the first quarter, with five of their field goals coming from distance. Moyet scored the first nine points for Eastern, putting the Eagles 3-0, 6-5, and 9-7 in the early stages. At the 2:25 mark, first-year guard Kendall Williams broke a 9-9 tie with her second three of the season, and Johnson scored her first points of the night on a fastbreak layup to put the Eagles ahead 14-12. Alvernia's Kyla Reed hit a three at the first quarter buzzer to give the Golden Wolves a 15-14 advantage at the break.

Upton scored her first four points of the night to begin the second quarter, but both teams battled throughout the frame. Alvernia eventually built a five-point lead at 24-19, before a basket from Stephanie White and a triple from Johnson tied the contest at 25 with 5:54 to play in the first half. The Eagles then took the lead on a free throw and basket from Maiah Madison, before Alvernia took the lead back on a three-pointer from Aaliyah Ferrer. The Golden Wolves took a 33-31 advantage into halftime.

The Golden Wolves (9-7, 3-2) began to pull away in the third. Jenny Degout made it 47-37 with 5:27 to play in the frame, and after Johnson three, Paige O'Brien hit from distance to put the Golden Wolves back up by double digits. The Eagles battled back to cut the Alvernia lead to six on a Dominique Geiger layup with 24 seconds left, and the Golden Wolves took a 56-50 advantage into the final frame.

Eastern cut the lead down to a single possession early in the fourth on another layup from Geiger, but the Golden Wolves held off the Eagles, eventually building their lead back up to 10 points with 3:55 to play. With 62 seconds left, Degout hit a pair of free throws to make it a 76-68 before Eastern came roaring back. In a span of 41 seconds, Johnson, Moyet, and Upton each knocked down threes to tie the game at 77-77, but Ingelido's final field goal at the buzzer put an end to Eastern's furious comeback effort.

Eastern (2-14, 1-4) will be back on the road on Saturday at Messiah. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.