Langhorne, Pa. – Cairn University built a 12-point lead midway through the third quarter of Saturday afternoon's Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball game and held on for a 61-58 victory.  The Highlander improve to 5-10 on the season and 2-6 in the CSAC while the Giants slide to 5-12 overall and 4-5 in conference play.       
 
Cairn built a 16-10 lead over the first seven and a half minutes of Saturday's contest before Brianna Nolen (Union Bridge, Md./Walkersville) and Nina Hodanich (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) scored back-to-back field goals for Keystone to tie the score at 16-apiece at the conclusion of the first period.
 
The two teams traded the lead six times in the second stanza with the Giants holding the largest lead of the frame at the 3:56 mark, 28-24.  The Highlanders scored six straight points to take a 30-28 edge before Daynara Elysee (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo) connected on a three-pointer to close the half and give the visitors a 31-30 lead at the break.
 
Hodanich led all scorers with 16 points in the first half while Nolen had eight points and Elysee had seven points.  The Giants shot 30.2 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play including a 33.3 percent effort from beyond the arc.
 
Payton Emerick and Kendra Stum netted eight first half points apiece for Cairn while Madelyn Brodish pulled down 10 rebounds to pace the Highlanders, who hit on 38.2 percent of their efforts from the field in the half while going 2-5 from three-point range.
 
Cairn opened the second half with a 15-2 run that gave the hosts a 42-33 advantage with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter.  Keystone battled back with a 12-6 surge to close the stanza as the Giants cut their deficit to 48-45 heading into the fourth period.
 
Hodanich opened the final frame with a field goal to bring Keystone to within a point, but the Highlanders maintained the lead the rest of the way, pushing it to as many as six points with 2:01 left on the clock.
 
A layup by Dyjae Williams (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) followed by a pair of made free throws from Brittany Sugalski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) cut Cairn's lead to 60-58 with 1:22 remaining.    After the Highlanders went 1-2 from the line, Keystone had a chance to force overtime, but a three-pointer would not go as the hosts escaped with the three-point win.
 
Stum finished with 14 points while Emerick recorded a double-double on 10 points and 15 rebounds to lead Cairn.  EJ Hartzler netted 13 points while Brodish finished with game-highs of 14 rebounds and seven blocks for the Highlanders, who shot 43.3 percent from the field for the game, 33.3 percent from long distance, and 38.5 percent from the free throw line.  The hosts also held a 55-40 advantage in rebounding for the contest.
 
Hodanich matched a season-high with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, and two blocks for Keystone.  Elysee added career-high 14 points while Nolen matched a career-best wtih 12 points for the Giants, who got a team-best nine rebounds from Sugalski.  Elysee finished with a game-high three steals for the visitors, who shot 26 percent from the field on the day while going 29.2 percent from beyond the arc and 84.6 percent from the stripe.
 
The Giants forced the Highlanders into 22 turnovers while committing just eight giveaways of their own in the loss.
 
Keystone will host Neumann University on Wednesday night in CSAC game starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center in La Plume.