INDIANA, Pa. – Paige Whitfield scored a team-high 19 points and Kira Merritt netted four 3-pointers to lead the Mansfield University women's basketball team, but a late fourth-quarter run allowed West Virginia Wesleyan College to escape the first day of the IUP Tournament with a 71-61 victory on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 9.

Whitfield was one point shy of her career high and added a team-high eight rebounds. Merritt was red hot from deep, scoring all 12 of her points from three. Sydney Reed was the third Mountie in double-figures, finishing with 10 points and three assists.

The Mountaineers (0-1) led for the majority of the first half, but a 13-6 run by the Bobcats (1-0) to close out the half and open up the third gave West Virginia Wesleyan a 10-point lead with 6:49 left in the third. The Mountaineers battled back and a layup by Chelsea Cover cut the deficit to four with 3:03 remaining in the game.

The Bobcats responded with an 8-2 run to close out the contest and secure the victory. 

In the first half, Reed gave the Mounties the lead with a 3-pointer just under two minutes into the game. Back-to-back layups from Jasmine Perez and Jasmine Hilton extended the lead to 9-4 with 3:17 to go in the first. A 3-pointer by Merritt and a layup by Whitfield gave Mansfield their largest lead of the night, 14-8.

The Mountaineers carried a 14-10 lead into the second quarter. However, the Bobcats forced three ties and four lead changes over the next 10 minutes and drilled a trifecta in the closing seconds of the half to take a 35-28 lead into the break.

Brittany Stawovy led the Bobcats with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Stawovy shot 6-of-11 from the field, with all six makes coming from behind the arch. Nicole Gilyard added 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Mounties are back on the court tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. when they conclude the IUP Tournament by taking on non-conference foe Davis & Elkins College.