Millersville, Pa. - Alex Stam drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute and a half to give the Millersville women's basketball team the lead for good over Mercyhurst as it held on to beat the Lakers by a score of 61-59 Saturday afternoon inside Pucillo Gymnasium.

The Marauders (7-4, 5-2 PSAC) have won four of their last five and improved to 4-0 at home this season while Mercyhurst (3-9, 1-6 PSAC) has dropped two of its last three and fell to 0-7 away from home. Millersville has now taken six straight in the all-time series and leads it 7-1.

With 1:47 to play in the game, the Lakers led 56-52 and hadn't given up the lead since the 18:13 mark when Carly Gallagher hit a triple and put the Marauders up 37-36. Millersville eventually tied the score up at 52-52 with 3:58 to play on a Courtney Hinnant free throw before the visitors made a pair of jumpers to go up four.

Stam then stepped into the spotlight and did what she has done best throughout her career, shoot the three. The West Chester, Pa., native splashed a three from the top of the key to pull the home team within one, 56-55. Before a minute could go by, Stam sunk another triple, this time from the right wing and the Marauders were up 58-56 and there were 40 seconds left until the final buzzer. Hinnant converted on one of two from the free throw line and Shelby Reimer added two more from their to give Millersville a comfortable five-point advantage. Mercyhurst's Katie Fischer made a trey at the buzzer but it wasn't enough as the Marauders held on for the two-point victory.

Both teams shot over 44 percent from the field in a first half that saw three ties but the visitors controlled most the action. After the final first-half tie came at 14-14, the Lakers embarked on a 17-5 run that saw them capture their biggest lead of the game at 12, 31-19. Millersville stemmed the tide though and from the 1:17 mark of the second half until there was 16:47 to play in the second period, the Marauders scored 14-straight points and were back up, 39-36. Eight of those 14 points came from Gallagher, Millersville was 4-of-9 from the field including 2-for-5 from behind the arc as well as 4-of-7 at the charity stripe while Mercyhurst was 0-for-6 from the floor during that span. 

However, the Lakers weren't down and out yet either. They used a 9-2 fury to go back up four, 45-41 and held the lead until Hinnant's free throw at the 3:58 mark.

Stam is a 37 percent 3-point shooter in her career (30-of-81) and Saturday, she was 3-for-6 from deep. Prior to this season, the 5-9 guard had never scored double figures in a game in her career but 2014-15 has been a different story. She has scored 11 points twice this month and with 56 points on the year, she is already one point shy of her total from her career-high of 57 points all of last season. 

Gallagher who was recognized before the game for scoring her 1,000th-career point, led the way with a game-high 17 points to go with three rebounds, one block and one steal. She has scored at least 10 points in 13 straight games dating back to the end of last season and has led the team in scoring for eight of the 11 games this season. Hinnant was the third Marauder in double figures and earned her first-career double double with 10 points and 13 boards as well as five assists and two blocks, all of which are personal bests for the Spring-Ford High School product. 

As a team, Millersville dominated scoring in the paint once again and this time it was to the tune of 24-12. The Marauders improved to 6-2 this season when they outscore their opponent in the lane. Millersville also made seven of its 19 attempts from 3-point land on the day.

The Marauders will finish the calendar year on New Year's Eve with their final non-conference foe of the season in Goldey-Beacom. Tip is set for 1 p.m. against the Lightning.