IUP Pulls Away Late to Down Mercyhurst on Opening Day of Holiday Inn Tip-Off Classic

Complete game stats and play-by-play

Kara Taylor scored 14 points, including 12 in the final 4:55, as IUP pulled away from Mercyhurst for a 58-50 victory in opening day action of the Holiday Inn Tip-Off Classic at Memorial Field House.

The Indians are 2-0 on the young season and host Saint Vincent on the second day of the tournament Saturday night at 8:00.  The Bearcats lost to Pitt Johnstown, 72-59, in the other first day game.

Taylor was the lone IUP player in double figures.  Julie Gallo and Mame Brumbaugh both scored eight points, with Brumbaugh adding nine rebounds.  Molly Miller grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds and joined Emily McMahan with eight points.

Cassie Seth led Mercyhurst with 14 points in its season opener.  Jessica Olmstead added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

IUP endured a 4:39 scoring drought after taking a 45-44 lead on a free throw by Miller with 9:34 remaining in the game.  But the Lakers could not take advantage, scoring just two points to take a one-point lead into the final five minutes.

That's when Taylor took over.  After scoring all 18 of her points in the second half in a season opening win over Shepherd on Monday, Taylor again provided late game heroics for IUP.

Her basket with 4:55 left ended the Indian scoring woes and put IUP in front 47-46.  Mercyhurst took the lead twice more, but Taylor answered both times, including a three-pointer with 2:47 left that gave IUP the lead for good at 52-50.

She connected on another long range bomb 46 seconds later to increase the IUP cushion to 55-50 and added a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Mercyhurst led by as many as 10 in the first half at 22-12 before IUP went on a 15-0 run, including three-pointers by Brumbaugh and McMahan, to take a 27-22 lead with 4:58 left before intermission.  The Indians settled for a 34-30 lead at the break.

Both teams struggled to score during most of the second half.  IUP could manage only four points for the first 8:15 of the period but Mercyhurst led only 41-38 at that point. 

The lead changed hands nine more times the rest of the way, but Mercyhurst could not match Taylor's strong performance down the stretch.