IUP Holds Off Lock Haven Rally in PSAC West Opener

Boxscore and play-by-play

In a battle between the two hottest teams in the PSAC West, it was IUP that emerged with a 65-63 victory over Lock Haven in the division opener for both teams.

IUP won its ninth in a row and improved to 11-3 overall while Lock Haven saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 10-3.

IUP snapped a seven-game losing skid in PSAC West play dating back to last season but not before seeing a 22-point lead early in the second half shrink to two with 3:44 remaining.

But the Indians were able to hold off the Lady Eagle comeback and extended their longest winning streak since the 1999-00 team won 16 in a row to start the season.

Mame Brumbaugh recorded a double-double for IUP, scoring 16 points and pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds.  Freshman Staci Heberling added 11 points while Kara Taylor hit three from 3-point range and finished with 10 points.

Kylie Miller, the reigning PSAC West Rookie of the Week, added eight points, dished out four assists and made five of IUP's 12 steals.

Ginger Williams paced Lock Haven with 13 points, followed by Ilia Lopez and Shameka Lee with 12 each.  Lee also grabbed 12 rebounds.

IUP led 39-25 and looked like it was on its way to an easy win by scoring the first eight points of the second half, taking a 47-25 lead on a free throw by Lizzie Suwala with 15:55 left in the game.

IUP still led 53-35 at the 11:15 mark before Lock Haven began to storm back.  The Lady Eagles held the Indians to two points over the next 7:31 and their 18-2 run brought them back to 55-53 with 3:44 remaining.

Heberling stopped the bleeding with a jumper with 3:26 left, and two free throws by Brumbaugh with 2:29 on the clock rebuilt a six-point advantage.  A basket by Lauren Fisher with 1:31 to go gave IUP a 61-54 lead, giving the Indians enough breathing room.

Lock Haven did make it 62-58 on a pair of free throws by Lopez with 28 seconds left, but two from the line by Miller and another by Taylor wrapped up the game.  The Lady Eagles were able to make it a two-point final on a basket at the buzzer.

IUP plays its final PSAC crossover game on Saturday at home against Bloomsburg at 1:00 before returning to division play at California next Wednesday at 6:00.