McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball Team (8-7, 6-1) has gotten back on track winning each of their last two games since dropping their contest with PSU-Beaver last Monday. They will look to make it three wins in a row on Friday when they face Penn State Scranton (5-9, 4-5) at 6 p.m.
It was a tightly contested game last time out, but PSUGA was able to sneak past PSU-Mont Alto with a 72-65 win. The teams were deadlocked throughout the first half essentially going basket for basket with each other. This back and forth led to a halftime 35-35 tie that sent both teams to the locker rooms looking to find a way to gain the upper hand in the game.
It would be PSUGA who would finally get the advantage late in the third quarter going on a 7-0 run that pushed their lead to 48-41. A three-pointer by Tina Clybourn (Pittsburgh, PA./Brashear HS) got things started for PSUGA and gave them the kick start they needed. They would finish the quarter ahead 53-47 and, with 19 points in the fourth quarter, were able to come away with the 72-65 victory.
Tearia Hartley (East Stroudsburg, PA./East Stroudsburg North HS) had her best game of the season leading the team with 17 points and six assists. PSUGA also rebounded well throughout the night with Lexus Santiago (Pittsburgh, PA./Imani Christian Academy) grabbing 17 rebounds while Alex Hall (Washington, D.C./Bell HS) pulled down 15 in the game.
With the win, PSUGA moved to 6-1 in Penn State University Athletic Conference play and now holds a two-game lead in the West Division over third place PSU-DuBois. With a playoff spot clearly in sight, PSUGA is now focusing on grabbing one of the top two seeds as they try to get a guaranteed home playoff game for the first time since the 2013-2014 season when they hosted PSU-Beaver in the PSUAC Final Four.
PSU-Scranton enters Friday’s game having been knocked down in their last two games falling to PSU-York 70-58 on Tuesday. It was a slow start that hurt Scranton as they only scored nine first quarter points. They came back with a 22-point third quarter but it was too little too late as they fell. Monique Hicks was the offensive leader for Scranton with 18 points on the day.
In seven previous matchups with Scranton, PSUGA has had their way going 6-1 over that time frame. Their last matchup came on February 10th of last year when PSUGA picked up a 68-50 win. Brandy Taylor (Pittsburgh, PA./Imani Christian Academy) had a big game with 22 points to lead her team on that day.
Tip-off for Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. as the first half of a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader inside the Wunderly Gym. You can watch all the action live by clicking here.
