Box Score

Shippensburg, Pa. — Shutting down opposing stars has become a thing of regularity for the Millersville women's basketball team. On Wednesday night the Marauders came through again, holding the PSAC's leading scorer, Lauren Beckley, to just six points in a 67-45 Eastern Division thrashing of Shippensburg at Heiges Field House.

Beckley, a three-time PSAC Athlete of the Year, and the only known player to capture that award in both the Eastern and Western Divisions, entered the match-up with the Marauders (13-3, 3-0 PSAC East) averaging 21.1 points per game. Multiple times she tried turning into the middle of the lane, only to find a collapsing MU defense hounding her every step of the way.

Millersville jumped out early, getting a game-opening 3-pointer from Emily Balogh. Strong first half performances by Sophia Waters (seven points) and Ashley Moyer (seven points) lifted the Marauders to a double-digit advantage. Shippensburg (8-11, 1-2 PSAC East) briefly cut the lead to nine just before the break, but a 4-0 run with lay-ups from Waters and Jenna Craig allowed the Black and Gold to carry a 31-18 lead to the locker room.

On pace to break the school record for steals in a season, the Marauders grabbed 13 more in the opening 20 minutes. Dominique Stroman and Craig each registered three apiece and the Lady Raiders committed an astounding 20 turnovers.

A pair of Caitlin Bamberger free throws with 14:23 to play left the Marauders with a 37-24 lead, but they put the game away with a 14-5 run over the next 7:18. Craig dominated the run offensively, scoring eight of her 10 points, including a conventional 3-point play and her first 3-pointer of the season on back-to-back possessions.

Even though MU's offense managed to score 60 or more points in its fifth straight contest, the focus still fell to the defense. Already giving up a league-best 51.7 points per game, the Marauders lowered that by containing the dynamic duo of Beckley and Kasey Gardner. Beckley's six points were a season-low and also marked the second lowest scoring output of her career. The only time she ever came up with fewer points was on Jan. 24, 2007 against California (Pa.), when she netted just four. On top of that, Beckley had scored in double-figures in her last 33 games, dating back to Jan. 10, 2009. Gardner, who came into the game ranked fifth in the PSAC in scoring, had a game-high 16 points, but did little throughout the first 30 minutes of the game, scoring most of her points in mop-up time.

Millersville has held the two Shippensburg stars to under 30 points combined in the teams' last three meetings, all MU wins. The Marauders emerged with a 20-plus point victory at Heiges Field House for the second straight season.

Moyer was Millersville's most efficient scorer on the evening, dropping 14 for a second straight game. Craig added 10 points and seven rebounds, as MU won its sixth consecutive game. Raquel Green finished with nine points for the Marauders, who collected 21 steals and forced 32 turnovers.

Now Millersville gets set for a showdown with the only other unbeaten in the PSAC East, Bloomsburg. The young Huskies, which have 10 freshmen on their roster, visit Pucillo Gymnasium for a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.