ESU Women’s Basketball Notches 56-49 Win over Concordia in Home Opener

EAST STROUDSBURG – Sophomore guard Barb Borst scored 15 points and sophomore center Kelly Sorber had career-highs with 11 points and 10 rebounds as East Stroudsburg University posted a 56-49 win over Concordia (N.Y.) in its women’s basketball home opener on Wednesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

The Warriors (1-1) picked up their first win under head coach Maureen Smith after falling 74-70 (OT) in their season opener at Clarion on Saturday.

Borst scored a career-high 21 points at Clarion and hit the go-ahead jumper to break a 47-47 tie with 2:30 left in Wednesday night’s victory. She also had six rebounds and five steals while shooting 4-for-15 from the field and 5-for-8 at the foul line.

ESU trailed 31-30 at halftime but opened a 47-36 lead with eight minutes left in the second half before Concordia stormed back. The Clippers (0-3) scored the next 11 points and tied the game with 5:44 remaining. Neither team scored for the next three minutes until Borst’s jumper put ESU in front, and Sorber hit a pair at the line for a four-point advantage.

Concordia pulled within 51-49 on a basket by Shelley Monahan with 1:24 to play, but Sorber pushed the margin to three by splitting two free throws and redshirt junior forward Brittany McClain hit a layup with 31 seconds left for a 54-49 lead after a steal by freshman guard Andrea Veres.

Veres made two free throws with 16 seconds left to seal the victory and finished with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals in 34 minutes. She played 42 minutes in the overtime loss at Clarion and posted nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Sophomore forward Mia Waring tied her career-high with nine points and had three rebounds in her first action of the year after missing the season opener. McClain had five points and five rebounds after recording a double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) at Clarion and junior guard Jennifer Scherer also had five points and five boards.

ESU had 13 steals on 38 turnovers by Concordia, and the Clippers shot 34.5 percent from the field (19-55) and 3-for-15 from the three-point line. The Warriors had 26 turnovers, a 27.9 field goal percentage (17-61) and were 5-for-23 from behind the arc. ESU held a 17-8 margin in made free throws which proved to be the difference, and Sorber was 7-for-10 from the foul line.

Krystina Agard led Concordia with 14 points and seven rebounds and Chanessa Blakemore added seven points and 11 boards.

The Warriors are off for nearly two weeks until their next action on Tuesday, Nov. 30 with a trip to Philadelphia to take on the University of the Sciences.