La Plume, PA – AAliya Hayes (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) scored a game-high 26 points and Alyssa Cuomo (Odessa, DE/Hodgson Vo-tech) hit the game-winning free throw with 4.1 seconds remaining in regulation to lift Keystone College's women's basketball to an exciting, 71-70 victory over Division II Mercy College in non-conference game played Tuesday night in the Gambal Athletic Center.  The Giants improve to 2-0 on the young season with the win while the Mavericks drop to 0-2. 
 
Mercy built a 12-6 lead over the first four and a half minutes of Tuesday night's game but Keystone would cut their deficit to three points, 20-17, with 8:21 left on the clock when Jazmyn Robinson (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) scored on a fast break layup.  The Mavericks responded with a 16-2 run to lead 36-22 with 3:54 left in the half before Keystone rattled off eight straight points.  Mercy held a 37-30 led at halftime after Maggie Salomone hit the back end of a pair of free throws. 
 
Pam Sosa led Mercy with 15 points and five rebounds in the first half while Salomone contributed eights points for the Mavericks, who shot 35.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play, 38.5 percent from three-point range, and 53.3 percent from the free throw line. 
 
Cuomo had nine points in the first half to lead Keystone while Hayes contributed eight points and eight boards in the opening stanza.  The Giants shot 36.7 percent from the field in the half, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 45.5 percent from the stripe.
 
Mercy pushed their lead to 48-40 six minutes into the second half before Keystone used a 12-2 spurt to surge in front 52-50, midway through the period on a lay-in by Hayes.  A three-pointer by Salomone briefly restored the lead in favor of the Mavericks, but Hayes answered with another lay-up to put the Giants back ahead.  Keystone would lead by as many as seven points before Mercy was able to level the contest at 70-70 with 1:01 remaining when Sosa converted a jumper. 
 
After the Mavericks missed on a go-ahead three point attempt, Cuomo was fouled away from the ball with 4.1 seconds remaining.  The junior missed her first attempt but made no mistake on the second free throw to give Keystone the one-point lead.  After a timeout by the visitors, the Giants defense forced a turnover at the buzzer to pull out the win.
 
Hayes's 26 points came on 12-18 shooting.  The freshman finished with a double-double after adding 10 rebounds to tie for a game-high while leading all players with four steals on the night.  Cuomo ended the night with 19 points while Ashley Evans (Wooster, OH/Wooster) added 12 points in the win.  Robinson led all players with seven assists in the contest while Chelsey Hropovich (Seward, PA/Ligonier Valley) blocked a pair of shots to lead all players.
 
For the game, Keystone shot 41.5 percent from the field including a 45.7 percent clip in the second half.  The Giants also went 6-18 from three-point range and 11-26 from the free throw line.
 
Mercy was paced by Sosa's 22 points while Salomone finished with 20 points in the loss.  Tanayzha Augustine added a double-double on 16 points and 10 boards for the Mavericks, who shot 35.4 percent from the floor on the night, 38.5 percent from three-point range, and 60.9 percent from the free throw line.
 
Keystone will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Elmira College for a non-conference game scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Elmira, NY.