McKeesport, Pa. - Despite the advantage at half, the Penn State Greater Allegheny women's basketball team found themselves on the short-end of a Penn State University Athletic Conference match-up against Penn State Brandywine, Sunday afternoon, by the score of 84-70.
Senior guard Nakayla Layne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) was the first to answer for Greater Allegheny with a made layup. Freshman guard Teona Cash (McKeesport, Pa./Woodland Hills) dumped a layup before Layne added a layup and one free-throw to tie the game at seven. Freshman guard Tori Johnston (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) dropped a three-pointer a little over three minutes in to give GA their first advantage of the game, 10-7.
Brandywine regained the lead as senior power forward Christina Floyd (Philadelphia, Pa./Sts. Neumann-Goretti) put up a layup and freshman guard Mandi Johnston (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) dropped two free-throws. Sophomore guard Tra-Esha Carswell (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) completed a jumper before freshman forward Morgan McCallister (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) made a layup bringing the score 22-18, BW.
Layne and Cash bucketed layups to tie the score up at 22 apiece with eight minutes until halftime. Floyd took the lead for GA with a layup before M. Johnston hit down a trey to keep the home team moving. Cash added a jumper before Floyd completed two free-throws. T. Johnston tacked on a three-pointer before Layne and McCallister added a free-throw apiece. Floyd rode out the first half with a set of layups to give GA the lead heading into the second half, 40-36.
Cash opened up with a pair of layups before T. Johnston hit a jumper, 46-44 GA. Layne and T. Johnton completed layups before Brandywine went on a scoring streak. T. Johnston, Layne and Cash all added two points apiece before T. Johnston dropped a three to tie the game up at 59 with just ten minutes to play through regulation.
Brandywine jumped ahead as Cash made a jumper, the visiting team leading 66-61. Layne dumped on two foul shots before Brandywine stretched the lead between the two teams to eleven. Floyd added a free-throw before Layne dumped on the final six points for the Greater Allegheny, Brandywine ahead of the Lions 84-70.
Layne dropped 20 points as she shot 53.8% (7-of-13) from the floor and 75% (6-of-8) from the foul line, highlighted by nine rebounds three steals and two assists. T. Johnston put up 15 points with three rebounds through the contest as she drained a trio of three-pointers. Cash bucketed 14 points while the guard grabbed up seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Floyd obtained yet another double-double through the match, as the senior pulled down 19 rebounds while netting eleven points.
As a team, Greater Allegheny dropped 70.6% (12-of-17) from the foul line while completing 34.2% (27-of-79) of their shots taken from the floor. The home team out-rebounded Brandywine 54-40 despite the setback. GA banked 36 points in the paint while adding 13 points off turnovers.
Greater Allegheny (6-13, 4-6 PSUAC) gets a few days for recovery before going back on the road for more Penn State University Athletic Conference action. On Friday, the women are set to Penn State Wilkes-Barre for a 6 p.m. tip-off. On Saturday, the men and women travel to Penn State Worthington-Scranton as the women are set to kick-off the day with a 1 p.m. start.
