The Shippensburg University women's basketball team continued their win streak and remained undefeated after Wednesday night’s 76-56 win over East Stroudsburg University at Koehler Fieldhouse.
SU (3-0) dominated the first half, starting with an early 16-6 lead that set the tone for the rest of the game. Although East Stroudsburg (0-3) countered with a 9-0 run to shrink the Shippensburg lead to just 1 point, the Raiders answered back by executing a 31-10 run in the first half. The Raiders ended the first half outscoring the Warriors 47-25.
Two starting guards, junior Lauren Gold and junior Logan Snyder, got into foul trouble early in the game, but junior Morgan Griffith and Shippensburg University’s effective shooting percentage kept them in the lead. SU shot 51.5 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Griffith had already received a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds coming out of the first half. Overall, Griffith finished 6-of-11 from the field and made all six of her free throw attempts.
SU’s deep bench stuffed the stat sheet throughout the night with double-digits from sophomore Victoria Blackburn with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and a career-high five blocks. Junior Haley Scullion also came off the bench adding 10 points and three rebounds in just 13 minutes.
The largest lead Shippensburg posed was by 28 in the 3rd with 8:36 on the clock, leaving East Stroudsburg unable to bounce back.
SU was also in action Saturday, Nov. 21 against Mercyhurst University. No fans’ fingernails were safe, as the Shippensburg University women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2015-2016 season ,67-65. The evenly matched opponents shaped an exciting match-up that was a nail biter from start to finish.
Intensity was at an all time high for the Raiders. Shippensburg (3-1) entered into heavy foul trouble and lost two starting guards, junior Logan Snyder and junior Lauren Gold, who both fouled out. Starting forwards, senior Stephanie Knauer and junior Morgan Griffith, were also severally at risk of being booted from the game, finishing with four fouls each. The heated match featured 47 personal fouls combined between the two teams.
SU took a four-point lead into the half and extended that lead to seven in the third. The Lakers answered back with an 8-0 run, taking a one-point lead. It was back and forth from there.
Mercyhurst (1-3) seemed to pull away, taking on a 63-57 lead, with just under four minutes to go, but SU left it all out on the court and refused to back down. The Raiders responded with a 6-0 run and tied the game 63-63 now with just 2:13 remaining.
SU failed to execute its game plan under pressure and fell flat to many missed opportunities. That gave the Lakers the opening they needed to sink 3 foul shots. Snyder was able to make a crucial lay-up with 35 seconds to go, carrying SU one-point away from the Lakers. The Raiders were then forced to foul, but unable to secure the defensive rebound on a missed foul shot and turned the ball over on their final possession.
Despite fouling out, Snyder showed leadership and a high-level of performance throughout the game, finishing with a game-high 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting. The junior made her first six shots consecutively.
Other big scorers of the night included Junior Colleen Young who recorded 12 points and six rebounds while Senior Stephanie Knauer checked in with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
SU’s next game would be against Gannon University on Nov. 22, at 1 p.m.
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