EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Mansfield University women's basketball team held 10 leads for over a duration of 15 minutes, but East Stroudsburg University used perfect free throw shooting late in Wednesday's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest to eke out a 58-53 victory at home on Feb. 16.
 
The Warriors shot 15-of-18 from the free throw line, including making their last eight attempts after taking the lead late in the fourth quarter. Both teams made 18 shots from the floor, but the Warriors made two more 3-pointers than MU and seven additional free throws.
 
Junior Jasmine Hilton led the Mounties with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double, connecting on 6-of-12 shots and all six of her free throws. Senior Paige Whitfield finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists, while junior Alivia Paeglow added eight points and a tie for the team lead with 10 rebounds. Senior Sydney Reed dished out a team-high four assists.
 
The Mounties dominated the glass, 48-33, but were unable to take advantage due to committing 19 turnovers while only forcing 11.
 
The Mounties fall to 7-17 overall and 6-14 in the PSAC, while the Warriors improve to 3-19 overall and 2-17 in conference.
 
In a game that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes, a pair of free throws by Hilton knotted the game at 45-45 with 3:23 remaining. However, ESU immediately drilled a 3-pointer to regain the lead and force a Mountaineer timeout.
 
The momentum continued to swing as an offensive foul on MU's ensuing possession led to a 4-0 ESU run to extend the lead to 52-45 with 1:21 to go.
 
Perez converted a 3-point play to cut the deficit to 52-48 and Paeglow countered a pair of ESU free throws with a layup to make it 54-50 with less than 20 seconds to go.
 
The Warriors connected on their 12^th straight free throw to extend the lead back to six, but Merritt drilled a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to make it 56-53.
 
ESU remained perfect at the line and held the Mounties off the scoreboard from there to close out the victory.
 
In the first half, the Warriors jumped out to a 17-9 lead thanks to 7-of-16 shooting, including three trifectas to the Mountaineers' one. The Mounties were limited to 23 percent shooting in the quarter.
 
However, MU completely flipped the script in the second quarter, improving their shooting to 43 percent (6-of-14), while turning things up on defense to hold the Warriors to just 17 percent (2-of-12).
 
Paeglow opened the second period with a layup to spark an 8-0 run to knot the game at 17-17 at the 4:35 mark. Whitfield drilled a trifecta 30 seconds later to give the Mounties their first lead, 20-17, before a free throw by Hilton and layup by freshman Kristen Fulford extend the lead to 23-17 with 1:57 remaining.
 
However, ESU scored five straight to cut the Mountaineer lead to 23-22 heading into halftime.
 
Ryan Weise led the way for the Warriors, scoring a game-high 30 points, finishing 14-of-14 at the charity stripe.
 
The Mounties are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. when they travel to Kutztown University for their final road game of the season.