ESU-IUP Women's Basketball

EAST STROUDSBURG - Heather Wolfe and Tiffany Barnes both produced double-doubles as East Stroudsburg University closed its first-semester women's basketball action with an impressive 68-61 victory over Indiana Saturday.

Wolfe, a sophomore guard, hit for 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, both career highs. She connected on 4 for 9 shots from the floor and 12 for 17 free throws. She hustled inside to grab seven offensive rebounds and six defensive.

Barnes, a junior forward, contributed 14 points on 7 for 13 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds, five on the offensive boards. It was her second double-double in the three games as she had 15 points and 17 rebounds in the Rotary Pocono Classic championship game win over New Haven.

The Warriors also had three players, alternating centers Jess Wapinsky and Vanessa Kraft and forward Michele Pilenza with eight points apiece while guard Katie Wear added six points in the team's most balanced scoring performance of the season.

The team also out rebounded a taller IUP squad, 47-39, which included 20 offensive rebounds, and committed only four turnovers in the second half.

"We used our heads and out hustled them," said a beaming ESU coach Juliene Simpson after the game. "We were very very aggressive on the boards and got to every ball."

The Warriors were behind, 55-49, with 6:49 left, but scored ten straight points to go ahead for keeps. Wolfe sank two free throws and Barnes followed with a 14-footer. Wear made another a pair of free throws, Pilenza canned a 12-footer and Wolfe hit two more foul shots for a 59-55 edge with 4:27 left.

IUP never got closer than three points the rest of the way as Wapinsky scored twice on a short jumper and a rebound basket and Wear hit from outside to forge the final margin.

Guard Jacquie Negrelli led the Indians with 22 points with 12 of the points in the last five minutes of the first half as IUP went from a 25-17 deficit to a 34-32 halftime edge.

Negrelli was held to only six points in the second half, however, as Simpson changed her team's defensive strategy.

"We made her pass the ball instead of penetrating to the basket. We wanted her to feed off and than we just had to contain the other four players' scoring," said Simpson.

The strategy worked as no other IUP player scored more than nine points in the game.

Simpson led the ESU women to a 4-5 record during first-semester action and stressed that the win was a good way for the players to go into the holiday break.

"That was a big win for us for many reasons. It's the first time the seniors have beaten IUP and it's the first win against a Western Division opponents in two years. The win also should give the players confidence that they can be successful in the upcoming conference season," she commented.

The Warriors will now have a two-week break before returning to action at Shippensburg Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. The team's PSAC Eastern Division opener will be against Cheyney at home Jan. 9 at 6 p.m.

ESU 68

Wear 2-7 2-4 6, Wolfe 4-9 12-17 20, Pilenza 4-8 0-3 8, Barnes 7-13 0-0 14, Kraft 3-7 2-2 8, Ross 1-8 2-4 4, Wapinsky 4-10 0-0 8. Totals: 25-62 18-30 68

IUP 61

Negrelli 9-16 4-5 22, Karas 2-6 2-2 7, Conner 1-7 0-0 2, Zdesar 3-7 1-3 7, Rattigan 3-6 2-5 8, Peterson 0-3 0-0 0, McMahan 3-9 1-2 9, Behne 2-4 0-0 4, Martin 1-2 0-1 2. Totals: 24-60 10-18 61

Three-point Goals: IUP - McMahan 2, Karas

Halftime: ESU 34, IUP 32