East Stroudsburg, Pa. - Millersville women's basketball knocked down seven free throws in the final minute while holding East Stroudsburg to just two points in the same span, scoring a 78-72 PSAC East road win Wednesday night.
The win evened Millersville (11-7, 7-7 PSAC) with East Stroudsburg (9-9, 7-7 PSAC) in the Eastern Division standings and for the time gave it an advantage in a postseason tiebreaker scenario. The Warriors entered the game on a roll, winners of four in a row and eight of nine, but the Marauders derailed the home team with a strong start (23 first-quarter points) and a clutch finish.
Millersville's 10-point lead at the half disappeared with just under two minutes left in the third quarter when Imani Brown knocked down a 3-pointer to cap an 18-8 Warrior run in which the Marauders shot 2-of-9 and committed six turnovers in 7:34 of game action. But the Marauders proved resilient throughout the game, and
Shelby Reimer answered with back-to-back triples. A 13-3 run helped Millersville extend its lead back to 10 and 65-55 wth 6:22 to play.
The Warriors rallied, though. In the next four-and-a-half minutes, ESU hit 4-of-6 field goals and 5-of-5 free throws to even the score again at 68-68 with 1:45 to play. Marauder leading scorer
Celeste Robinson also picked up her fifth foul, so the Marauders were forced to close the game without her. After an
Aunjel Van Brakle free throw, ESU's Allison Howard gave her team its first lead of the game with 1:24 left.
Marauder sophomore
Alayah Hall responded with a timely and much-needed three-point play. The Marauders forced ESU into two consecutive misses, and at the other end, Van Brakle and
Alex Stam combined for three free throws to give Millesville some space. Howard cut the Marauder lead to 75-72 with 19 ticks left, but forced to foul, the Warriors sent
Tyisha White to the line, where she knocked down both. Van Brakle sealed the Marauder win with a steal in the final seconds.
Four Marauders scored in double-figures with Robinson's 18 on 7-of-10 shooting leading the way. Van Brakle scored nine of her 15 at the line and Reimer canned 4-of-7 threes for 12 points. Hall drilled 9-of-9 free throws and hit both shots from the field for a season-high 13 points.
Millersville's 28 free throws made marked the program's highest total since making 29 in the 2013-14 season-opener. Millersville attempted 21 more free throws than ESU and also grabbed 50 rebounds for the second time this season.
The Maraders travel to Kutztown on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip. Millersville won the season's first meeting on Dec. 1 by a 68-54 score.
