SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore Ariel Jones tied career highs with 36 points and nine rebounds on Saturday as the Shippensburg University women's basketball team held on down the stretch to score a 71-65 road victory at Shepherd in a non-conference matchup from the Butcher Athletic Center.

Shippensburg (5-5) never trailed in the fourth quarter, but the game was within two possessions until the final minute when the Raiders grabbed an eight-point lead. Jones scored 19 of her 36 points in the fourth quarter – hitting a pair of three-pointers, shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line over the final 10 minutes.
 
Shepherd (4-6) trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half but used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to take a brief lead. The Rams scored 16 points off 22 Raider turnovers, and were led by 21 points from Sydney Clayton and 18 points from Kayla Tibbs.
 
Shippensburg got to the free-throw line often, especially down the stretch. SU finished the game shooting 75 percent (27-of-36) at the charity stripe, including 86 percent (12-of-14) in the fourth quarter. The Raiders also finished with a 43-36 edge in rebounds, marking the fifth straight game and seventh time this season that the team has totaled 40 or more rebounds.
 
Jones finished 5-of-8 from three-point range for the Raiders, making 4-of-5 three-point attempts in the second half. She was 11-of-15 at the free-throw line overall and finished with three assists – helping the team overcome some offensive struggles in the second half.
 
"Hopefully that's some of the experience that Ariel got last year, in the sense of when I need to take over and when I need to use other people," Trn said. "She has always been a good free-throw shooter for us, evidenced by the fact that she could step up at the end of the game and ice it for us."
 
Freshman Aunbrielle Green contributed nine points and five rebounds for Shippensburg, while sophomore Kryshell Gordy added seven points, nine rebounds and two assists.
 
Freshman Lauren Mills scored six points, making 4-of-5 at the free-throw line; freshman Lauren Pettis had five points and six rebounds, while junior Gianna Locker hit a three-pointer at the halftime horn to give the Raiders a nine-point lead at the intermission.
 
Shippensburg's defense was key to its strong first half, limiting the Rams to 25-percent shooting in the first 20 minutes of play. Shepherd scored just 14 points in the first 18 minutes of play, and finished the game shooting 39 percent from the field and just 21 percent from three-point range.
 
"Our focus over the last two weeks has been defense," Trn said. "I really felt that we stepped up and did a much better job today. We had a lull there in the third quarter, but they really responded well after Shepherd took the lead. We got the stops at the end when we needed to."
 
UP NEXT: Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. at Gannon.