McKeesport, Pa. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball Team (0-6, 0-0) has had some time to rest and relax over the Thanksgiving season, but are now back to work as they open Penn State University Athletic Conference play on Tuesday as they go on the road to face Penn State Beaver (0-5, 0-0) at 6 p.m. Both teams enter the contest looking for their first win of the season and a good start to conference play.
The last time out for PSUGA was a time they probably want to forget as they scored just 16 points in a 93-16 loss to Grove City JV. They scored the least amount of points in a game in PSUGA history and turned the ball over a total of 33 times. However, despite the scoreboard, there were still some positives to take away from the match.
Jayla Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) continued to score in double digits as she put up a team high 11 points in the contest. Ellis has scored in double-digits in all six games this season and leads the team scoring 12.3 PPG. Ellis is in her second season with the team after scoring 111 points in just one semester of play a season ago.
Another positive you can look at is PSUGA’s efficiency from the free throw line. In total, they went 4-7 (57.1%) from the free throw line in the game. Jayla Ellis was also a big part of that statistic as she went 3-4 from the charity stripe. Andrea Burroughs (New Rochelle, Ny./New Rochelle) added the final free throw going 1-3 from the line.
PSUGA comes into conference play looking for their first win of the season and hoping that some rest and some reinforcements will help them bounce back. They added Sophomore Sydney Frichtman (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton) to the roster last week in order to help in the numbers department. Frichtman will allow PSUGA to give some of their starters some much needed rest so they don’t have to play full games.
Penn State Beaver is also stumbling into conference play as they have lost their first five games to start the season. They are coming off of their second worst loss of the season as they fell to Carlow last time out 69-38. They enter the contest averaging just 52.0 PPG through the first five games of the season.
In that game against Carlow, Brittany Jackson provided almost all of the offense putting up 17 of the teams 38 points on the day and led the team in rebounds with 10. Rachel Cummings had the team lead in assists with two on the night.
Since the 2011 season, this matchup has been dominated by Penn State Beaver with a record of 12-2 all-time against PSUGA. The last win for PSUGA came on January 27th 2014 when they picked up an 86-75 win. The last matchup came on the final day of the regular season last year when Jayla Ellis put up 13 points in what would be a 101-61 loss.
Tip-off for tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Penn State Beaver Gymnasium and Wellness center located in Monaca, Pa. It will be the first half of a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader and you can watch the game live by clicking here.
