MERCYHURST – Noelle Cameron led the Mansfield Mountaineers women's basketball team with 13 points against Mercyhurst on Wednesday afternoon. The Lakers (4-7, 1-3 PSAC) came away with a 66-50 win in the final game before winter break after using a 12-3 run down the stretch to top the Mounties (0-8, 0-4 PSAC) at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
 
Gibbons took the opening tipoff from Mia Leonard right to the hoop to start the game with the Mounties up 2-0. Leonard and Noelle Cameron each hit jumpers, and Paige Whitfield knocked down her first 3-pointer of the game to give Mansfield a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout. At the end of the first quarter, the Mounties led 16-11.
 
Kira Merritt also found her stroke from behind the arc, but she took a hit during a loose ball tussle and had to leave the game; the guard did return in the second half and went on to score seven points in the contest. Eliza Oswalt hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Mercyhurst their first lead of the game at 19-16 with 5:30 left in the half. A dry spell from the field saw the Mounties fall behind 21-16, forcing Coach Whitling to call timeout.

It was Whitfield who turned the tides for Mansfield when she hit a corner 3-pointer to give the team their first points of the quarter.  McKenzie Hatch drove and got a layup to fall on the very next possession to cut the deficit to 23-21.  Through the first half, Cameron and Leonard both tallied two blocks and combined to collect 12 rebounds, which was 52% of the team's total up to that point on the boards. Just four points separated the Mounties and Lakers at the intermission.
 
Again, it seemed as if Mansfield had trouble finding rhythm out of the locker room, falling behind after a 14-4 Mercyhurst run opened the new half. The Red and Black shot just 10% from deep and 33% from the field, while the Lakers scored 28 points in the third quarter on 46% shooting. Another recurring theme that doomed the Mountaineers was their turnover ratio. Collectively, they totaled 20 turnovers, which was twice as many as Mercyhurst had in the game. As a result, the Lakers converted those extra possession opportunities as 19 points off of turnovers. Mercyhurst won their third consecutive game behind a 17 point outing from Eliza Oswalt. It was the Lakers' first PSAC win.
 
On top of her team-high 13 points, Cameron also contributed her career-high with two blocks, and also brought down six rebounds. 
 
Brooke Roys connected on a nice baby-hook with about two minutes remaining in the game. The senior tallied her first career assist while adding a huge block and two rebounds to her totals.
 
By adding another rebound in the second half to total 10 on the night, Leonard made it her third straight game with 10 or more boards. The sophomore is averaging 7.6 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the PSAC.
 
Jenna Kunst and Meghan Komendarek both added 11 points and a rebound for Mercyhurst. On top of scoring seven points, Emily Shopene led all players with nine assists on the day. She ranks eighth on the PSAC rankings with 3.8 assists per game. Mansfield's McKenzie Hatch is three spots ahead of Shopene with 4.1 dimes per game. In addition to scoring five points, the Mounties' senior point guard added another five assists in the 66-50 loss to the Lakers.
 
Mansfield returns home to take on East Stroudsburg with tip-off set for 1 p.m. on December 30th. It will be their last game of 2018, and live coverage with Drew Patrick will be available on GoMounties.com and @MUMounties official social media outlets thanks to Visit Potter-Tioga.