SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va., – The Shepherd Women’s basketball team fell short to East Stroudsburg University (ESU) on Wednesday night in the Butcher Center.
Senior guard Tiffany Lapotsky of ESU scored a game high of 26 points to lead the Warriors to their 56-59 victory over Shepherd.
Lapotsky is the third leading scorer in the conference and it was Shepherd’s plan to shut her down when she set foot on the court.
“We wanted to make someone else beat us, unfortunately, that didn’t work in the first half, she [Lapotsky] had 17 of their 30 points at halftime,” said Shepherd head coach Jenna Eckleberry in reference to Lapotsky.
At the end of the first quarter, ESU (10-5, 6-3) scored a three-pointer off a half court shot, setting the pace for the rest of the game.
Eckleberry noted how all the games are one possession games and how the team must harp how important each possession is, whether it be in the first quarter or remaining seconds of the game.
Junior guard for Shepherd (11-4, 5-4), Marley McLaughlin scored a team-high 19 points with freshman guard Abby Beeman following with 17 points. The two tied with three assists each for the Rams.
Beeman currently leads the Rams in scoring, assists and steals and junior forward Sydney Clayton leads Shepherd in rebounding.
East Stroudsburg is tied for first in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) with Kutztown and Shippensburg, resulting in Shepherd taking second place in the standings.
Eckleberry said the team cannot get complacent or settle for anything and they must keep putting in work to move up in the rankings.
The women will be on the road for their next game against Millersville on Saturday. ESU will host Mansfield on their home court on Saturday.