Hillsboro, Oh. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball Team (0-5, 0-0_ continued to have multiple players score in double digits over the weekend but could not get into a groove as they dropped both weekend contests falling to Cincinnati-Clermont on Friday 75-46 and to Southern State CC on Saturday 99-61.
On Friday, they had three players in double digits as Jayla Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) led the way with a team high 16 points. She was followed by Brandy Taylor (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian Academy) with 12 points and Tina Clybourn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear HS) who put up 11 points on the day. Andrea Burroughs (New Rochelle, Ny./New Rochelle) and teammate Kiya Blair (Pittsburgh, Pa./Carrick HS) were playing well under the net collecting a team high seven boards apiece and Jayla Ellis led the way with two assists.
Even though they fell, there was a lot of positive to look at in this contest as again you had three players in double digits and their shooting percentage continues to improve. They shot 18-42 from the floor (42.8%) and 3-10 from beyond the arc (30.0%). Getting better shots was one of the focuses of this year’s team and they certainly improved on that in Friday’s game. However, they would have a big task ahead of them on Saturday when they faced off against Southern State CC.
They competed early in this ball game trailing by just four going into halftime. However, it would be Southern State that was able to pull away in the third quarter outscoring PSUGA 29-7 to pull away for good and eventually pick up the win. PSUGA still fought to the bitter end and showed signs of great play, especially in that first half.
It would be Andrea Burroughs who shined offensively in the second game of the weekend putting up a season high 16 points in the loss. Once again PSUGA would spread the scoring around as four of the five players finished in double digits including Tina Clybourn and Jayla Ellis each putting up 14 points while Brandy Taylor put up 12.
Brandy Taylor would step up under the net collecting a season high seven rebounds finishing tied with Jayla Ellis for the team lead. Brandy Taylor would also lead the team with a season high nine assists, the most by any PSUGA Women’s Basketball Player this season, as she was able to spread the ball around effectively and get everyone involved.
Their shooting continued to improve on Saturday as they had the shooting percentage from the field back up around 40% shooting 26-64 (40.6%) from the floor and 2-8 (25.0%) from beyond the arc. They were able to compete with a very good Southern State team for the first half but fell in the end after a tough battle.
Head Coach Chrissy French has been emphasizing that it is all about how her and her team are playing right now and not what numbers are showing on the scoreboard. No matter what the result of the game, she wants to know that her ladies gave it their all and she can certainly be proud of them in that aspect over the weekend.
The ladies have a quick turnaround as they are back on the road on Monday to take on Grove City JV at 6 p.m. it will be the third consecutive road game for the Women’s Basketball team and the third of this eight-game stretch away from the Wunderly Gymnasium.