The Griffins hosted Mansfield in a PSAC Crossover in the McKenna Center on Saturday afternoon. Seton Hill trailed by as many as 17 points but rallied and got as close as one point but could not get the lead as they fell by the score of 77-73 in the PSAC opener for both teams. SHU drops to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in PSAC play while the Mountaineers improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in PSAC action.
Jenna Kaufman scored the first basket of the game but Mansfield scored the next 13 points of the game to take a 13-2 lead midway thru the first quarter. A three pointer from
Alexandra Hay ended the run and got the Griffins on a run of their own as they were able to trim the lead to 20-18 by the end of the quarter.
Lindsey Mifsud hit back to back three pointers to cap off the scoring at the end of the quarter.
Kaufman again opened the scoring in the second quarter to tie the score at 20. A jumper from
Hannah Laslo at the 7:05 mark of the quarter gave the Griffins a 24-23 lead. After Mansfield took the lead, Kaufman tied the score at 27 with 3:24 to play in the half. Over the last 3:24, Mansfield outscored the Griffins 11-4 to take a 38-31 lead into the halftime break.
Cheyenne Trest hit one of two free throws and Mifsud and Laslo hit jumpers as the Griffins cut the Mansfield lead to 38-36 early in the second half. From that point on in the quarter, Mansfield was able to start to pull away and built a 60-45 lead after three quarters of play.
The Griffins began to cut into the lead, trimming it to nine at four different points of the quarter, the last with 2:41 to play in the game. After a steal from Kaufman and a layup, Trest hit one of two free throws and Mifsud drained a three to cut the lead to 72-69 with 1:17 to play. Hay answered two Mountaineer free throws with a bucket of her own and after a defensive stop Trest hit two free throws to cut the lead to 74-73 with 22 seconds to play. Mansfield hit one of two free throws to build the lead back to two but a blocked shot on the last Griffins possession gave the Mountaineers the ball back and then hit two free throws to clinch the win.
Jenna Kaufman led five Griffins in double figures. She posted a double double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Alexandra Hay pitched in 16 points off the bench.
Cheyenne Trest added 14 points while
Lindsey Mifsud added 11.
Hannah Laslo finished the game with 10 points.
SHU returns to action on Sunday afternoon when they host Lock Haven at 1 PM.