ERIE, Pa. (February 7, 2015) - The Edinboro women's basketball team dominated the first half at Mercyhurst on Saturday afternoon as they routed the Lakers 77-51. The Fighting Scots outscored the Lakers 47-26 in the first half and shot 19-for-32 (59.4 percent) from the field. Edinboro moved 16-6 on the year and 13-5 in the PSAC West and the Lakers drop to 8-16 and 5-13 in the division.

Leading 20-15 with 11:50 left in the first half the Fighting Scots scored 10 unanswered points. Laurel Lindsay scored six points over that stretch including a 3-pointer to cap off the run. Edinboro led 30-15 with 7:41 remaining in the opening frame and would lead by at least 13 points the rest of the game.

 

Aignee' Freeland made the last field goal of the half with five seconds to play. It was also Lindsay's fifth assist of the opening frame which moved her into sixth place for assists in a single-season, passing Karen Urey.

Edinboro led by as much as 35 points following the Scots third 10-0 run of the game. The Scots took a 77-42 lead when Lauren Hippo made her fifth and final 3-pointer of the afternoon with 5:52 showing on the clock. The Fighting Scots starters would take a rest after this and Mercyhurst scored the final nine points of the game to bring it to the final margin of 77-51.

The Fighting Scots shot 31-for-56 (55.4 percent) from the floor and 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) on 3-pointers while limiting the Lakers to 22-for-69 (31.9 percent) from the field and 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Each of those percentages for the Lakers was the fourth-worst performances against the Scots this season.
Edinboro outrebounded Mercyhurst 41-34.

Hippo led all players with 21 points. The junior guard shot 8-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. It was her eighth time scoring 20-or-more points in her career and fifth this season. Her five 3-pointers made tied a career-high and also moved her into sole possession for ninth place for career 3-pointers made in school history (104).

Freeland followed Hippo with 18 points on a near-perfect 9-for-10 shooting. She also tied the team lead with seven rebounds. The junior forward/center is now at 991 career points leaving her nine points away from becoming the 30^th Edinboro player to reach 1,000 career points. Freeland has scored 16-or-more points in five straight games now and will look to reach the 1,000 point mark at home against Slippery Rock on Wednesday.

Lindsay finished with 14 points while shooting 4-for-7 from the floor, 2-for-4 on 3-pointers, and 4-for-6 at the free throw line. Lindsay finished with six assists and is now just 14 assists shy of becoming the first player in Edinboro history and third in PSAC history to reach 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds, and 500 career assists.

Valerie Majewski was the last Fighting Scot to reach double figures. The senior guard shot 5-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc on her way to 13 points. Majewski also tied Lindsay for a game-high six assists and pulled down five rebounds.

Nicole Johnson followed her big game against Gannon with seven points and seven rebounds, the latter tying Freeland for a game-high.

Alex Artise and Natalie Piaggesi each led the Lakers with 14 points. Artise pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

The Fighting Scots victory gives them a sweep against Mercyhurst this season. Edinboro moves to 45-11 in the all-time series.

Edinboro welcomes Slippery Rock to McComb Fieldhouse next Wednesday night. The 5:30 p.m. tip-off is a rematch of a December 3 meeting between the two that The Rock won 66-57. Slippery Rock had a bye today and enter next week 9-12 overall and 5-12 in the PSAC West.