Stevenson (5-15, 1-8 MAC) made the short trip to York College of Pennsylvania (13-7, 6-3 MAC) Wednesday night, hungry, ready to make a statement and fight for a win.
Thanks to their strong defensive efforts through the entire game, as well as three Mustangs scoring double digits, Stevenson held on and beat the second-place team in the conference 72-69.
Right from the start, junior guard Emori Jeselskis was ready to start the scoring. Thanks to junior forward Stephenae Lawrence winning the tip-off, Stevenson drove down the court for the early 3-0 lead. By the end of the first, both teams knew this was going to be a defensive battle.
Defense has been a work in progress all season but in this crucial conference matchup, it was some of the best all season. Assistant coach Brandi Hall said the team has been “emphasizing in practice on the need to finish close games.”
As a team, they had 42 total rebounds, 31 of them on defense.
By the end of the first, the score was 18-18 all tied up, Stevenson knew they had to keep the momentum and tempo up against a York team that beat them at home earlier in the season. However, going into the second quarter, York jumped out to a 4-0 run to start in the first 3 ½ minutes of the quarter.
Stevenson called timeout at the 7:55 mark of the quarter making key adjustments, allowing Jeselskis to make a three to cut the deficit to one making it 22-21 York at the 7:07 mark. Due to some late fouls and turnovers, York held a 35-29 lead at halftime, despite Stevenson holding York to 20% from the 3-point line.
Going into the second half, York was able to build onto their six-point lead and started the half on a 6-0 run leading 41-31 at the 5:29 mark of the third. Lawrence helped turned the momentum back in the Mustangs favor. Stevenson would go on a 10-0 run to tie it up at 41-41 at the 2:20 mark of the quarter. Late in the quarter, a good jumper by Jeselskis and a good layup by Sophomore guard Erin Dixon gave Stevenson a 45-43 lead going in the fourth.
To start the fourth, the Mustangs picked up where they left off continuing their offensive run, with a three from Sophomore Forward Tessa Boswell. York would keep sticking around and take a 49-48 lead with 9:07 left in the game. Lawrence would come in with an offensive rebound off a missed three from Boswell and gain the lead back 50-49 at the 8:40 mark. Stevenson would continue their offensive strength and take a 53-49 lead thanks to Boswell.
After a couple of back-and-forth baskets, York would start to pull away and go on 9-4 run leading 64-60 before Stevenson would sub in Lawrence and Dixon, they would help Jeselskis make a three cutting York’s lead to one.
Neither team would score for nearly two minutes, but York would take a 67-63 lead with 2:54 left in the game. Rebounding would help Stevenson late, leading them to go on another 8-0 run giving them a 70-69 lead with 33 seconds to go in the game. When talking to Hall, she was “proud of how we [the team] fought through the whole game.”
She also praised the two top performing offensive players of the game in Jeselskis and her 29 points along with Tessa Boswell and her first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
There is something about playing at York in which Jeselskis is playing on another level.
“Em [Jeselskis] plays really good in York,” Hall said. “[She] was aggressive at shooting along with being a great playmaker.” When commenting about Boswell, she said was also aggressive and was amazing at snatching the ball out of the air.”
The Mustangs look to continue this momentum when they travel to face the Eagles of Eastern University this Saturday. Tip off is schedule for 1 pm.
