CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Sophomore forward Lauren Beckley scored a career-high 35 points to lead the Shippensburg University women's basketball team to a 74-61 victory over West Virginia State on Sunday at the UC/WVSU Classic at Charleston's Eddie King Gymnasium.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Lady Raiders (9-3) who have won eight of their last 10.

Beckley's 35 points marked her third 30-point game this season and the fifth of her career. It was also the ninth time that she has led the team in scoring. Her previous career-high was 31 points, set in a season-opening 89-71 win over Tiffin at home.

She finished the game shooting 15-of-20 from the field, which ties the school record for field-goal percentage in a game with a minimum of 20 attempts. Shanna Oaddams '07 also shot 75 percent from the field in a 33-point, 12-rebound performance over Shepherd on November 22, 2005.

In 50 career games, Beckley has totaled 819 points, an average of 16.4 per game. She now needs just 181 points over the team's final 15 regular-season games, an average of 12.1 per game, to become the first Lady Raider to reach 1,000 career points as a sophomore. Beckley is currently averaging 22.6 points per game.

Beckley scored 16 of Shippensburg's 32 first half points as it held a 32-26 halftime lead. She scored the first six points of the game as the Lady Raiders led 6-0 with 17:11 remaining.

Shippensburg also scored the first six points of the second half to extend its lead to 12. However, the Yellow Jackets (3-6) responded with a 9-2 run to cut their deficit to five, 40-35 with 14:42 left.

Over the next 11 minutes, the Lady Raiders outscored West Virginia Wesleyan 34-16, led by 15 points from Beckley, to take a 23-point lead, 74-51 with 3:12 to play. Freshman forward #Kasey Gardner#, who finished with 14 points, scored 10 of her 12 second-half points during that span.

Gardner also added a career-high seven rebounds while sophomore guard #Michelle Metz# had nine points and a career-high six rebounds.

Shippensburg will now have a six-day layoff before returning to action at home on Saturday, January 5 against West Chester. Tip-off from Heiges Field House is at 1:00 p.m. The game will mark the debut of the facility's new wooden floor that was installed on December 18.

- Lady Raider Basketball -