LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The LHU women's basketball team (8-6, 5-4 PSAC East) was edged out by Shepherd (11-4, 5-4 PSAC East) 71-64 on Saturday afternoon at Butcher Arena in Shepherdstown, W. Va in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.
Shepherd controlled the first quarter of play, building up an 11-point advantage as they took a 22-11 lead in to the second quarter. The Bald Eagles showed no discouragement at the early deficit as they quickly began to erase it in the second, going on a ten-point run to make it 23-27 before closing the quarter on a seven-point run to cut the Rams lead to just two points (30-32).
The Rams began the third quarter on a five-point streak to increase their lead to seven points, but Lock Haven came back once again, this time tying the game at 37 on a three-pointer from Ahnera Parker (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCasky). Shepherd would take the lead three more times in the following minutes, and all three times the Bald Eagles fought back to even the score, although a six-point run from the Rams at the end of the quarter would give Shepherd a 51-45 lead going in to the final quarter.
Despite narrowing the lead to just two points once again in the fourth, the Bald Eagles were unable to catch the Rams, eventually falling 71-64.
Marena Lonardi (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and Jaynelle Robinson (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport (Monroe CC)) led Lock Haven with 13 points apiece and went perfect from the free throw stripe. Lonardi added six rebounds while Robinson added eight to increase her PSAC-leading rebounds mark to 152 (10.9/game).
Two more Bald Eagles recorded in the double digits as Rileigh Devine (Etters, Pa./Red Land) and Parker both chipped in with 11 points. Devine, the most lethal foul shooter in the conference, went a perfect 4-4 from the line to increase her PSAC-best free throw percentage to .917, which is also good for ninth best in Division II Women's Basketball.
As a team Lock Haven notched 38 points in the paint and 20 second chance points while holding Shepherd to just 12 points in the paint and 7 second chance points. 27 of the Bald Eagles points in Saturday afternoon's game came from the bench.
UP NEXT: Lock Haven hits the court again this Wednesday, Jan. 15, as they take on the West Chester Golden Rams at Thomas Fieldhouse in Lock Haven.
