MANSFIELD – Down eight in the final period, the Mansfield University women's basketball team exploded on an 18-0 run to earn a 62-52 victory over East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Wednesday night, Jan. 5.   

The Mounties shot 50 percent (7-of-14) from the floor during the run and did not allow a point for over six minutes.

The Mountaineers (4-7 overall) improve to 3-3 in the PSAC and with help around the conference can sour to second place, their highest in modern program-history.

The Mounties led 28-25 out of the break, but the Warriors opened the half with consecutive layups to take their first lead, 29-28 with 7:49 to go in the third.

The Warriors extended the run to 9-2 to take a 34-30 lead into the under-five media timeout. However, junior Alivia Paeglow took a steal coast-to-coast out of the timeout to halt the run.

ESU kept momentum to close out the period and a trifecta at the buzzer extended their lead to 41-35 heading into the fourth.

The Warriors took their largest lead, 43-35 with just over nine minutes remaining. However, five successful free throws from Hilton and Fulford and a pair of deep 3-pointers by Reed gave the Mounties a 48-43 lead with 5:23 to go.  

Led by defense and officiant offense, the Mountaineers capped off their game-changing run at 18 to lead 53-45 with 3:49 remaining.

ESU remained within striking distance, but the Mounties closed out the contest with five consecutive stops and added five points at the charity stripe to seal the come-from-behind victory.

Senior Sydney Reed connected on 4-of-7 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 15 points. Junior Jasmine Hilton missed her third double-double in four games, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Paeglow poured in a career-high 12 points and pulled in eight rebounds. Senior Paige Whitfield filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior Kira Merritt added eight points and seven rebounds.

The Mountaineers also won the battle on the glass, 48-31, while converting 16 second chance and 11 fast break points.

In the first, Merritt and Whitfield combined for nine early points to lead the Mounties to an early 13-8 advantage at the first media timeout.

Merritt and Reed each drilled a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to help the Mounties win the race to 20, but back-to-back turnovers leading to consecutive Warriors' baskets made it 21-all at the 4:23 mark.

The Mounties extended the lead to two scores twice over the final four minutes of the half, but the Warriors would not go away, and the Mounties led 28-25 at the break.

The Warriors were led by a game-high 19 points from Cassie Ksiazek (8-of-15) and 14 points and five assists out of Ryan Weise.

The Mounties travel to Bloomsburg a 1 p.m. for a PSAC East game on Saturday, Jan. 8.