McKeesport, Pa. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball Team (0-10, 0-3) gets set to wrap up the 2017 half of their 2017/18 season on Friday when they battle Penn State University Athletic Conference foe Penn State DuBois (6-2, 2-1). After improving in each of their last couple of games, they are looking to end the first half on a high note as they look for the first win of the season.
Their last time out, they were tested as they went up against Division II Pennsylvania State Conference Contender Clarion where they fell 74-21. Despite the lopsided final score, PSUGA did play well and held a lead for the majority of the first quarter. Their offense was sparked by freshman Brandy Taylor (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian Academy), who hit a big three-pointer to get the offense out to an early 3-0 lead and then hit another just five minutes later to put PSUGA on top 6-4.
However, PSUGA lost their fire power as the game went on and didn’t score in double digits in any quarter of this game. On the other side, Clarion never scored under 15 points in a quarter and never looked back after going on an 18-0 run at the end of the first quarter to put them out to a comfortable lead. They would close out the game scoring 20 points in the final quarter of play while PSUGA could only manage two points.
Jayla Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) scored a season low 10 points to lead the team, but kept her double-digit streak alive as she scored in double digits for the 10th straight game. Andrea Burroughs (New Rochelle, Ny./New Rochelle) continued to rebound at a high rate leading the team with nine despite not scoring a point in the contest.
The 21 points were the second lowest scored by PSUGA this season as they try to find their offense that proved successful against Hazleton last weekend. PSUGA is averaging just 42.8 points per game this season and is trying to improve on that number as the season moves on. Coach Chrissy French just wants her girls to relax and try and improve the way they play every single game and the results will start to show.
PSUGA is running into a hot Penn State DuBois team that has won six of their first eight games to start the season. Their last game was a 70-61 win over Penn State Beaver on Tuesday as they are now 2-1 in conference play. In that game, Kristen Williams and Cierra O’Shell led the DuBois offense with 16 points apiece. Williams has been the offensive leader for DuBois this season averaging 10.3 PPG in the early going.
PSUGA hasn’t found its way the last two seasons against PSU-DuBois as they are just 1-3 against them over that time. However, PSUGA does hold the all-time matchup against DuBois with a record of 7-5 since the 2011/12 season. PSUGA’s last win against DuBois came in the 2015/16 season when they beat them 71-61 in the second matchup of that season
Friday’s game will be the first half of a Men’s and Women’s Basketball Double Header and the first half finale for the Women’s Basketball Team. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. as the ladies play the final game of this eight-game road stretch.
