Young lineup leads Edinboro women; Mercyhurst men win with defense
EDINBORO – Most of the freshmen on the Edinboro women's basketball team hadn't played in a tension-filled rivalry atmosphere until Wednesday.
Several of those freshmen put together big performances and key plays to help the Fighting Scots pull out a 91-88 double-overtime win at McComb Fieldhouse.
With a one-point lead, the ball and 33 seconds left, Edinboro's plan out of the timeout was to run the clock down before taking a shot.
Freshman Lauren Mullen saw an opening and decided to make a play.
“I was a little nervous and we were supposed to take the last shot,” Mullen said. “I think I kind of blacked out and saw the lane was open so I went for it.”
Mullen went right to the rim to put in a layup and give the Fighting Scots an 88-85 lead. The teams traded free throws from there as Edinboro pulled out its seventh straight win over Mercyhurst.
“It was tough because not everyone has been in that situation but everyone on the team embraced it,” said experienced Edinboro guard Rana Elhusseini. “We took advantage of the situation and embraced it. The offense wasn't always coming together, but we kept fighting on defense. We never stopped.”
Elhusseini led Edinboro with 17 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals, while the scoresheet was full of big games by four freshmen. Hayley Sims had 17 points and eight rebounds, Mullen had 16 points, Ashten Boggs added 13 points and five rebounds and Mercyhurst transfer Gillian Fisher, a Sharpsville graduate, had eight points.
“The way we started the game then grinded back then they pulled away and we grinded back it just felt like it was going to be Mercyhurst's night,” said Edinboro coach Callie Wheeler. “Our girls were great about the adjustments we made. We never play with four guards and one post but we knew we were outmatched out front and needed to play up-tempo to get back into the game.”
Mercyhurst (6-10 overall, 4-6 PSAC) rolled in the first half to take a 39-32 lead in to halftime. After a small Edinboro run, the Lakers went back up 59-48 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Fighting Scots (7-4, 5-3) picked up the intensity with a fullcourt press and rode the emotion of a boisterous crowd to get back into the game.
Mercyhurst led 75-71 with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left before a 7-0 run by Edinboro. Elhusseini had four points and Sims had three in the run.
With just 11 seconds left, Julia Buchman stopped the bleeding for Mercyhurst by burying an NBA-range 3-pointer to tie the game at 78. Edinboro worked for the final shot but missed at the buzzer to force overtime.
Mercyhurst had the ball at the end of the first overtime with time running out but missed at the buzzer before Edinboro dominated the second overtime.
Jayde Boyd led Mercyhurst with 20 points, while Mercyhurst Prep graduate Emily Shopene had 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Grace Centrulla had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
“This team is growing and to beat a very good Cal team on the road then lose to UPJ, who is also very good, then come back and win this close game shows the progress being made,” Wheeler said. “Everyone really contributed to this win.”
The Lakers are back
Mercyhurst men's basketball coach Gary Manchel hasn't been happy with the Lakers' defensive effort over the past few weeks.
He let them know as much in practice.
“This game was a good first step. I was incredibly hard on the guys in practice the past two days and they responded well,” Manchel said. “The energy level was terrific from the start and I thought to myself 'this is how Mercyhurst defends'.”
Mercyhurst (15-2, 9-2) dominated on defense, forcing 22 turnovers and forcing numerous bad shots by Edinboro (5-9, 3-5) on Wednesday in a 95-60 win at McComb Fieldhouse.
“Give Edinboro credit. They have injuries, and playing without two all-league guys is tough,” Manchel said. “I just thought we did a lot of things well and played one of our better games.”
Mercyhurst held Edinboro to just 24 points in the first half before scoring 52 in the second half to pull away for the win.
MiyKah McIntosh had another big game for the Lakers with 17 points, while fellow guard Steve Cannady broke out of a slump with 19 points and seven rebounds.
“My teammates kept having my back and kept telling me to shoot,” Cannady said. “Even when I was struggling they kept encouraging me and I've been working on my shot in practice.”
Michael Bradley added 16 points and eight assists and Cameron Gross scored 10 points for the Lakers.
Dominique Keyes and Will Taylor had nine points each to lead Edinboro.
“We hung our heads a bit after the IUP game, but the guys snapped out of it in practice,” Manchel said. “The comeback at Kutztown Saturday was terrific. We were down 13-14 points with 10 minutes left and to go win by eight was big. If we can get where we need to defensively, we'll give ourselves a chance in this league.”
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Young lineup leads Edinboro women; Mercyhurst men win with defense
