Second-Half Run Helps Eastern Halt Lions’ Winning Streak

MEDIA, Pennsylvania -- Eastern broke open a game that was separated by four points at halftime with a 20-4 run to open the second half and held off a late Penn State Brandywine push, ending the Lions' winning streak at six games with a 74-56 non-conference women's basketball victory Wednesday night.

Megan Nowak keyed the surge for Eastern by netting the first six points of the second half, while teaming with Emily Lavin to score 16 of the Eagles' 20 points during the surge.

Cashae Hinton (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) halted Eastern's run with a jumper at the 12:12 and the Lions began to slowly chip away. Hinton sank a layup and Stacey MacArthur (Newtown Square, Pa./Delco Christian) followed with a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 13 three minutes later.

MacArthur's three-pointer made the score 60-48 with 7:21 to play and Hinton added a free throw 26 seconds later, the first of two times Brandywine cut the deficit to 11. However, Gina DiDomenico drained a triple, jumpstarting a 6-0 spurt for Eastern to balloon the lead back to 17.

Myeisha Matos (Philadelphia, Pa./JW Hallahan Catholic) answered with a three-pointer with 4:27 left, but that would be Brandywine's final made field goal as the Eagles pulled away for the victory.

The teams played back-and-forth in the first half, trading the lead seven times during the opening 10 minutes.

The Eagles built a five-point advantage, but threes from MacArthur and Jessy Gledhill (Secane, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) knotted the score at 23-23.

After Eastern six-straight points, Olivia Encarnacion (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) sank a layup and Lauren Munro (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) collected a steal and fast-break lay in just before the halftime buzzer to make the score 34-30 after 20 minutes.

MacArthur drained a trio of three-pointers and made 8-of-13 free throws to lead the Lions with 17 points, while Hinton added 10 points. Munro collected five points, five rebounds and four steals for Brandywine, which shot 29 percent from the field.

Lavin paced all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while Nowak and DiDomenico added 12 points each. Eastern held a 44-32 edge on the boards and shot 46 percent from the floor.

Brandywine (8-4, 3-0) returns to conference play Saturday when it visits Penn State DuBois at 1:00 pm.