BY JOHN REED

SC Staff Writer

Sophomores Melissa Poderis and Michelle Boggs led the charge as each contributed 14 points as ESU routs Kutztown 80-56 during Saturday’s doubleheader at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Guards Halie Cintron and Ryann Fiascki rounded out an impressive back court as both scored 11 points, with Cintron grabbing five boards in only 19 minutes of action. Allison Howard and Audrey Stapleton added 8 and 7 points.

What started out as a competitive game, tied 9-9 seven minutes in, quickly got out of hand as ESU broke things open scoring the next seven points while Kutztown could not buy a bucket.

Heading into the break, ESU sat comfortably with a 36-22 lead keyed by a 14-4 run midway through the first half.

Boggs buoyed ESU’s run as they began to pull away by making all five of her field goal attempts, including a three-point play to cap the run.

Forward Jessica Martin, ESU’s leading scorer at 12.3 ppg, was held to only 5 points, but her point total only showed a small part of the impact her game had.

Martin put in a stat-stuffing performance with seven rebounds, one assist, three blocks, and two steals in only 20 minutes of work.

Kutztown opened the second half aggressively as they attempted to work their way back into the game.

After trading baskets for the first four minutes, KU ran out of gas as the Warriors began their second half run to close out in dominating fashion.

Beginning at the 15:51 mark of the second half, ESU pushed their lead past 20 points with a 13-2 run that stretched the score to 56-32.

ESU’s run was capped by a three-pointer by Poderis that put the game out of reach.

ESU’s shooting prowess, fifty-one percent (27 for 53) for the game, was a season high for the Warriors.

Their three-point shooting was just as proficient where they shot a solid fifty percent (6-12) for the game.

The Golden Bears had four players score in double figures, with Natalya Lee and Kelsey Watson scoring 15 points apiece. Jess Harvey and Alyssa Bonenberger scored 12 and 10 points respectively.

Only four points were scored by the rest of their squad.

Following the Women’s rout, the Men’s team took to the court to continue ESU’s winning Saturday.

The Warriors twenty-game winning streak is the best in the PSAC in almost two decades, with IUP’s 21-0 start during the 1994-95 season being the last time a team started this hot. ESU also set a school record with 16 straight wins against PSAC opponents, which surpasses the 15 straight that was set during the 1940-41 through 1941-42 seasons.

Matt Tobin spearheaded East Stroudsburg University’s (20-0, 10-0) victory over Kutztown 75-67 by scoring all of his team-leading 15 points in the second half.

This is twenty straight wins for ESU as they sit as the sixth ranked team in Division II basketball.

Rasheed Moore and Will Brown scored 15 and 14 points to help balance out ESU’s scoring attack, doing most of their scoring damage in the first half. Forward Zechariah Runkle contributed across the board with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in 32 minutes of work.

ESU opened the game with a 6-0 run and it looked like they might run away with it from the opening tip, with Moore scoring the first two buckets. The offense stalled two minutes in and Kutztown had a small run of their own to makes this a dog fight.

The half ended on a positive note as Runkle made a layup with two seconds left on the clock to give ESU a one basket lead, at 34-32, heading into the break.

The momentum carried over into the second half as ESU scored eight consecutive points to extend their lead to double digits.

Matt Tobin began to catch fire as he scored, or assisted, on eight of the Warrior’s first ten points.

Each time it looked like ESU was poised to pull away, Kutztown fought back into the game, narrowing the score to 59-55 with seven minutes remaining. Kutztown’s Tracy Peal put the Golden Bears on his back, scoring 9 of KU’s final 18 points, but it wasn’t enough as Tobin scored 6 points of ESU’s final 16 and assisted on another bucket to keep them at bay.

Tracy Peal led the Golden Bears with a double-double, scoring 29 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Josh Johnson totaled 12 points, followed by Elijah Jackson and Ryan Connolly each tallying 11 points. No other player scored more than two points.

Email John at:

jreed18@live.esu.edu