SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's basketball team had all five starters post double figures on Tuesday night and made 14-of-16 free throws in the final 2:16 to clinch an impressive 85-72 victory over West Chester in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (5-1, 3-1 PSAC) defeated West Chester (4-3, 2-2), the preseason No. 1 pick in the division, on the strength of a blistering start – shooting 8-of-11 (73 percent) from three-point range and 59 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes.
 
SU led by 14 points with 9:31 to play and had to stave off a late WCU rally, as the Golden Rams got within six points with 1:05 remaining. The Raiders did not make a field goal in the final 7:31 of the contest and were held scoreless for a five-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, but the defense only yielded seven points against during the WCU run.
 
Junior Morgan Griffith led the Raiders with 22 points and added eight rebounds and two assists. Griffith was 6-of-10 from the field in the first half and finished the game 3-of-6 from three-point range.
 
Junior Colleen Young had one of her best all-around games as a Raider, making her first three three-point attempts of the night and finishing with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Young was just two points shy of her career high, and she also had three assists, three steals and three rebounds.
 
Junior Lauren Gold made 9-of-10 free throws in the final two-plus minutes to help clinch the win and handed out a season-high eight assists compared to just three turnovers. Gold scored a season-high 19 points, going 13-of-14 at the free-throw line, and sank a pair of three-pointers. In her last two games, Gold is 25-of-26 at the charity stripe.
 
Making her first collegiate start, junior Haley Scullion delivered 12 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists in a career-high 38 minutes. Scullion did not commit a turnover, shot 5-of-8 from the floor, and made of both of her free-throw attempts in the win.
 
Junior Logan Snyder scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while sophomore Victoria Blackburn was solid in 10 minutes off the bench. She had two points and an assist. Freshman Gabriela Blackburn had two assists in nine minutes off the bench.
 
Both teams entered Tuesday's game shooting less than 30 percent from three-point range for the season, yet Shippensburg and West Chester combined to make 17 three-pointers on the night. SU finished 53 percent (9-of-17) from long range. Tuesday's game also marked the third time in six contests this season that the Raiders had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (19:13).
 
Shippensburg will host IUP in a PSAC crossover match at 5:30 p.m. Friday from Heiges Field House.