BUCKHANNON, W.Va. - Led by 21 points from senior guard #Megan Fogle#, highlighted by two free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining, the Shippensburg University women's basketball team escaped West Virginia Wesleyan with a 75-72 victory Saturday afternoon at Rockefeller Center.

The win was the sixth-straight for the Lady Raiders (7-1) who are off to their best start since the 2003-04 season when the team also started 7-1 en route to a 19-11 final record and an appearance in the title game of the PSAC Women's Basketball Championship.

The victory also came under the direction of assistant coach Jack Schenzel in the absence of ninth-year head coach Kristy Trn who gave birth to her second child, son Cole Anthony, on Wednesday. She is expected to rejoin the team when it returns to West Virginia for the Red Roof Classic December 29-30.

Despite trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, 60-46 with 9:14 remaining, the Lady Bobcats (4-2) used a 26-11 run to take their first lead of the game, 72-71 with 1:22 left following a three-point play by Sarah Van Horn.

Van Horn finished the game with a game-high 37 points, 24 of which came in the second half, while adding a game-high 16 rebounds.

However, following a Shippensburg timeout, Fogle would find freshman forward Kasey Gardner for a short baseline jumper that put the Lady Raiders back in front by one with 1:10 left.

Each team would turn the ball over on consecutive possessions before a three-point attempt by West Virginia Wesleyan's Brandi Wynn was off the back of the rim and rebounded by Fogle, who was fouled with 7.1 seconds remaining.

Fogle, who has made 79.0 percent of her free throw attempts in her career, would hit both to give Shippensburg a three-point lead, 75-72, and more importantly, force the Lady Bobcats to have to make a three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

On its ensuing possession, West Virginia Wesleyan's three-point attempt by Lucia Darling as time expired was off the mark, giving the Lady Raiders the victory.

Fogle finished the game with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists while holding Darling, the Lady Bobcats' second-leading scorer and top three-point shooter, scoreless. Her 79.0 percent career free throw percentage is just off the school record held by current assistant coach Jen Scaffidi who made 79.3 percent of her attempts from 2001-05.

Free throw shooting proved to be a big difference for Shippensburg Saturday, especially in the second half where they were 16-of-18 despite surrendering 43 points and being outrebounded 28-16. The Lady Raiders also had to deal with serious foul trouble as Fogle, Gardner, sophomore forward #Lauren Beckley# and sophomore guard Michelle Metz all had four fouls for the majority of the final 10 minutes.

Beckley picked up her fifth foul with 2:09 remaining after being called for a questionable illegal screen. From that point, West Virginia Wesleyan outscored Shippensburg 7-0, with all seven points coming from Van Horn, to take its first lead.

Beckley finished with her 13th career double double, including sixth in eight games this season, after totaling 23 points and 10 rebounds while junior forward Elise Mercer added 12 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Sheila Wasser was a key figure off the bench for the Lady Raiders, finishing with six points and a career-high five rebounds.

Shippensburg returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Bloomsburg for the first of back-to-back PSAC crossovers. Game time from Nelson Fieldhouse is at 5:30 p.m., with the game available on Shippensburg University student radio station WSYC 88.7 FM as well as on the internet at raiders.ship.edu.

- Lady Raider Basketball -