INDIANA, Pa. – IUP women's basketball had another strong defensive effort, bouncing back with a 71-53 victory on Saturday afternoon at the KCAC to close out a busy week.
IUP (14-5, 9-5) pulled away following a slow start, outscoring East Stroudsburg (11-9, 7-7) by a 42-26 margin over the second half.
Alana Cardona provided IUP a big spark in the first half in her return to the lineup, particularly from beyond the arc, finishing with 18 points (4-4 3FG) and 10 boards for a double-double.
Maria Cerro poured in a game-high 24 points on an efficient 10-for-13 shooting effort, posting 15 of those points in the second half. Leading by just two at the break, IUP quickly widened the third quarter margin to double figures with a 10-2 scoring run.
ESU, led by an 18-point point outing from Cassidy Saylor, trimmed its deficit to as little as four points in the fourth quarter with a resilient approach. Again the Hawks responded, using a decisive 11-2 spurt near the midway point of the fourth to pull away for good.
Kiera Baughman added 13 points and four rebounds, while
Gina Adams and
Teirra Preston chipped in six points each. The win snapped a two-gameroad slide and allowed IUP to keep pace in a compaced Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western division.
While both sides endured turnover-plagued stretches in the first half, IUP stayed the course before outscoring ESU by a 22-16 margin in the third quarter. Saylor lifted the Warriors ahead, 6-4, at 5:44 of the first. ESU remained in control throughout the stanza as IUP kept its deficit under five. Back-to-back triples from Cardona leveled the score at 17 early in the second, opening up a 14-2 surge that put the Hawks in the lead for good.
Cardona contributed three baskets from beyond the arc, while Cerro added a triple of her own to move ahead by eight. The Warriors chipped the deficit back to just two points at the break with trey balls from Ryan Weise. Weise posted 12 points and four rebounds on an off shooting night.
IUP eventually pushed its third quarter lead to double digits with a transition jumper and three from Baughman, pushing the Hawks ahead 39-29. Out of the third quarter media timeout, the Hawks again regained some separation in pushing the lead back to double digits.
Janeira Scott opened a 10-5 run for the Hawks, before the Warriors closed the gap again near the end of the third.
It took IUP a little over four minutes to rebuild its lead back to double digits, but this time the Hawks took control for good.
Anna Rafferty made her first collegiate start for IUP in place of
Teirra Preston, who finished with six points and six rebounds for IUP. ESU shot just 35.7% for the game and 26.6% in the fourth quarter, also struggling at the foul line (5-16).
Up Next
IUP travels to Seton Hill on Wednesday, February 1 at 5:30 p.m.
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