FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mansfield women hold on for 77-75 win in season finale at Cheyney – Kayla Espigh scores career-best 18 points

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CHEYNEY – Sophomore Kayla Espigh scored a career-best 18 points to lead four Mountaineers in double-figures and a furious last-minute Cheyney rally fell just short as Mansfield beat Cheyney 77-75 in the season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon in Cope Hall.

The win snaps a season-long 10 game losing skid for Mansfield which ends its season with a 7-19 overall record and 2-14 mark in the PSAC East.

Cheyney held a 25-24 lead when Espigh hit a 3-pointer to give the Mountaineers a 27-25 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first half. That three-pointer was the first of three straight trey's, one by Nicole Pender and a second by Espigh for a 9-0 Mountaineer run and 33-25 lead with five minutes remaining before halftime.

Cheyney closed to 32-28 with just under three minutes before intermission but Mansfield responded behind a pair of 3-pointers by Espigh to take a 46-32 halftime lead.

Mansfield led by as much as 52-34 three minutes into the second half on a free throw by Jena Matter and maintained a double-digit advantage including a 76-63 lead when Mary Butler hit a pair of free throws with one minute to play.

But Cheyney refused to quit hitting four 3-pointers and forcing five Mansfield turnovers over the last 60 seconds of the game to close to 77-75 as time expired.

Espigh came off the bench and scored all her 18 points on six 3-pointers. It was the most 3-pointers in a game by a Mountaineer player since Mallory Hafer hit a school-record eight trey's at Cheyney in 2007. The only other Mountaineer to hit six 3-pointers in a game since then was Espigh's older sister Alicia who accomplished the feat four times over the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Senior Tegan Atallah also came off the bench to score 13 points in her final college game, hitting 5-7 from the floor including 2-3 on 3-pointers. Sophomore Julia Stevenson scored 12 points, her third highest point total on the season while senior Nicole Pender ended her Mansfield career with 10 points along with four assists and four steals.

Cheyney (6-20, 2-12 PSAC East) was paced by Christalee Lynch who recorded a double-double with a game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds. Brittany Jenkins came off the bench to score 20 points while Denise Hill added 12 points. Nadirah Brown chipped in with 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Nicole Pender finished the season with 88 steals tying her with Lynelle Mosley (2000-01) for the second-most in a season in school history. Pender also dished out 120 assist on the year tying Tina Foshee (1993-94) for third most in a season in school history.

Pender ended her career with 616 points, 275 assists and 175 steals. The 275 assists are the fifth most in school history and the 175 steals rank eighth most on the all-time list.

Tegan Atallah also ended her Mountaineer career where she scored 353 career points.
Mansfield ends the season tied with Cheyney and East Stroudsburg for sixth place in the PSAC East.