SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. (December 20, 2014) - The Edinboro women's basketball team concluded the 2014 calendar year with a 69-62 victory at Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon. Lauren Hippo scored a game-high 21 points as the Fighting Scots held off a second half comeback by the Raiders. Edinboro is now 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the PSAC West while Shippensburg is 6-6 and 2-4 in conference.

 

Following a 3-0 start for the Raiders, the Fighting Scots scored 11 of the next 13 points. Hippo made two 3-pointers during that stretch while Valerie Majewski capped it off with a 3-pointer to make it 11-5 with 16:21 left in the first half.

Edinboro pushed its lead to as much as 10 points in the first half. The Scots had an 8-0 run in which Laurel Lindsay scored the last five to take a 21-11 lead with 12:35 remaining in the opening frame.

Shippensburg would not go away quietly. The Raiders chipped away at the deficit and trailed 26-25 with 3:51 to play in the half. The Fighting Scots took a four-point lead into the locker room after Hope Mancini made a layup with 52 seconds left to make it 32-28 at the break.

The Raiders dominated the interior in the first half with 16 points coming inside the paint. Edinboro countered by shooting 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) on 3-pointers, accounting for 21 of the Scots points with Hippo scoring 11 points at the break and Majewski scoring 10 points as each player shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.

The Fighting Scots opened the second half in similar fashion to the first half as Lindsay made a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the final frame. Bri'ana Cook shortly followed that with a layup to give Edinboro a 37-28 lead with 19:17 remaining.

Shippensburg continuously battled back to keep the game close. Trailing 55-52 with 6:27 left to play, Victoria Blackburn made her first and only 3-pointer of the game to tie the game at 55-55 with 6:14 showing on the clock. The Raiders took a lead with 4:44 left as Kristin McGeough hit a 3-pointer to take a 58-57 lead.

That would be the only time Edinboro would trail in the second half. Freeland hit a layup 16 seconds later to regain the lead before both teams went on a scoring drought that lasted over two and a half minutes. Hippo finally found the bottom of the net with 1:55 remaining as her 3-pointer increased the Fighting Scots lead to 62-58.

Morgan Griffith cut the Edinboro lead to 64-62 with 1:11 to play with a layup. The Fighting Scots scored the final five points of the game to win 69-62.

Hippo finished shot 6-for-13 from the field, 4-for-7 on 3-pointers, and 5-for-6 on free throws as she scored in double figures for the fourth straight game. Edinboro is now 20-1 over the past two seasons when the junior guard/forward scores in double figures.

Majewski scored 14 points while pulling down a season-high six rebounds. It was also the first time the senior guard played 40 minutes this season after reaching that mark or more on six occasions last season.

Lindsay and Freeland each finished with 10 points. Lindsay battled fouled trouble as she was limited to 22 minutes. The graduate student guard/forward who entered the game with 72 assists, the second-most in the nation, dished out four assists on Saturday.

Griffith led the Raiders with a double-double. She finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Lauren Gold and Blackburn were the only other Raiders to crack double figures. Gold scored 10 points while Blackburn provided 11 off the bench.

Edinboro shot 23-for-58 (39.7 percent) including 9-for-20 (45.0 percent) on 3-pointers while Shippensburg went 23-for-63 (37.1 percent) from the floor and 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) on 3-pointers.

The Raiders missed on opportunities to capitalize at the free throw line as they went 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) from the charity stripe. The Fighting Scots took advantage of the free points shooting 14-for-17 at the free throw line. The 82.4 free throw percentage was their best mark this season.

Winning was synonymous with the Scots in the 2014 calendar year as they posted a 29-6 record.

Edinboro will open the new year with a road trip as it continues its stretch of games against PSAC East teams. The Fighting Scots will travel to Kutztown on Saturday, January 3 and then Mansfield on Sunday, January 4. Each game is scheduled to tip-off at 1:00 p.m.