MANSFIELD, Pa. – Madison Fox scored a career-high 14 points and the Mansfield University women's basketball team used an elite defense to defeat non-conference opponent Alliance University, 68-52, on Saturday night, Nov. 19 inside Decker Gymnasium.
 
The Mountaineers secured their first win of the season to improve to 1-2, while the Warriors fall to 0-1.

Fox led three Mountaineers in double figures, pouring in 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting, with three makes from behind the arch. Hilton notched her second straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Danae Ellzy rounded out the Mountaineers in double figures with a career-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three.
 
The Mountaineers defense translated to offense as they forced a season-high 25 turnovers, while recording a game- and season-high 13 steals. MU shot just below 40 percent from the floor (23-of-65), held Alliance to 33 percent (20-of-61), while limiting the Warriors to 20 percent (5-of-25) from 3-point land.
 
Five different Mountaineers recorded multiple steals, led by Kenedy Stroup (three), who recorded her first action of the season after returning to the squad following field hockey season.
 
In the first half, Alliance jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead to start the game, but the Mounties drilled back-to-back trifectas to knot the game at 6-6 at the 4:52 mark. The Mounties ended the period on a 13-7 run thanks to a full-court press that forced three Warrior turnovers.
 
The Mounties' defensive effort continued in the second period, as they held the Warriors to 29 percent shooting (5-for-17), while forcing another five turnovers to extend their lead to 35-23 heading into the break.
 
The Mounties shot 42 percent (13-of-31) from the floor in the first half and led in bench points, 18-2. Ellzy and Fox combined to knock down five 3-pointers to power the Mountaineer offense in the half.
 
The Warriors hit 4-of-5 shots out of the break, while forcing three Mountaineer turnovers, which led to an 11-5 run to cut the MU lead to 40-34 at the 4:38 mark. 
 
However, the Mountaineers responded with an 11-7 run to close out the period and carried a 51-41 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. The MU defense forced four Warrior turnovers and Ellzy knocked down her fourth trifecta of the night during the run.
 
In the final period, the Mounties continued to hold a double-digit advantage until the 7:28 mark when an Alliance 3-pointer, trimming their deficit to 52-44.
 
However, MU regained the momentum following a trifecta by Fulford, which sparked a 9-2 run, extending their lead to 63-47 to put the game out of reach.
 
For the Warriors,  Carly Bolivar scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting and Raqueal Crooke-Losanda hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Mounties open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action on Friday, Dec. 2 when they host Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in crossover play at 5:30 p.m. inside Decker Gym.