Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's basketball team led by as many as 10 points in the second half versus No. 11 Edinboro on Saturday afternoon, but was unable to maintain its advantage, dropping a tight 63-61 decision in the first of two weekend PSAC crossover games from Heiges Field House.

Shippensburg (4-2, 1-2 PSAC) limited the conference's second-leading scoring team 28 points below its average, as the two-point victory was by far Edinboro's (4-0, 3-0) closest game of the season.

The Fighting Scots – the only nationally-ranked PSAC team – came into the contest averaging a 30.3 scoring margin and forcing 35.7 turnovers per game. Shippensburg turned the ball over 24 times while shooting 45.2 percent from the field – nearly 10 percentage points higher than Edinboro's defense allowed on average coming into the game.

Edinboro, meanwhile, shot just 34.9 percent from the field, nearly 11 percentage points lower than its season average coming into the game.

Junior Shawna Wert was 8-of-12 from the free throw line and scored a game-high 16 points in addition to leading the Raiders with seven assists.

Junior Caitlin Bamberger went 5-of-9 from the floor in addition to making all three of her free throw attempts to finish with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

SU fell behind by as many as seven points in the beginning of the first half before battling back and eventually taking a five-point lead with 1:32 left in the period. An Edinboro layup 15 seconds later cut the Shippensburg lead to three at the break as SU finished the first half shooting 50 percent from the field.

The Raiders pushed the lead to as many as 10 just over seven minutes into the second half, but SU went scoreless for the next six minutes as a 9-0 Edinboro run cut the lead to one.

A three-pointer from sophomore Sarah Strybuc followed by two free throws from junior Dana Wert on the next possession ended the drought and pushed the Shippensburg lead back out to six with 7:12 remaining.

The Fighting Scots' suffocating defense forced SU into seven turnovers during the last 5:25 of the game. Edinboro capitalized on the second of those turnovers when a Samantha Blazetic layup at 3:28 gave Edinboro a one-point lead, 56-55, that it would not relinquish.

Shippensburg will host Lock Haven at 1 p.m. Sunday from Heiges Field House.