McKeesport, PA. – After battling through a grueling pre-conference schedule, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball team (1-6, 0-0) gets their first shot at a Penn State University Athletic Conference opponent on Friday when they face Penn State Hazleton (1-4, 0-1) at 6 p.m. PSUGA is trying to get back into the win column after dropping their last six games and, with their sights set on the playoffs, now would be a perfect time to do it.
PSUGA fell in their final pre-conference game of the season on Wednesday falling to Point Park 65-38. The girls were able to hang with Point Park almost all the way through the first quarter, however, a 12-0 run at the end of the first quarter pulled the Pioneers out in front for good and gave them the victory. PSUGA scored 21 points in the first half and were trailing 38-21 as the teams broke for the locker room, but the offense faded putting up just 17 second-half points in the loss.
Tearia Hartley (East Stroudsburg, PA./East Stroudsburg North HS) continued her strong start to the 2018-2019 season leading the team in all three major categories with 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Entering play on Friday, Hartley ranks second in the PSUAC with 33 assists behind PSU-Lehigh Valley’s Kion Andrews.
PSUGA now puts their grueling pre-conference schedule behind them and looks ahead to their 17-game conference schedule. It is the first season that the PSUAC has been split into the East & West Division and PSUGA will be competing against five teams in the west for four playoff spots. In a division that features PSU-Beaver, DuBois, New Kensington, and Fayette, PSUGA will have to bring their A-Game every night to compete for one of the spots.
They open conference play, however, taking on West Division opponent PSU-Hazleton. Hazleton opened their PSUAC play on Tuesday against Penn State Brandywine falling 83-61. It was the fourth straight loss of Hazleton and, although they jumped out to a 24-11 lead early, they were unable to sustain anything allowing Brandywine to score 53 second half points in the loss.
Hazleton’s McKenzie Prutsman continued her reign as one of the top scorers in the conference leading the team with 19 points in the game. Prutsman currently leads the conference averaging 27.4 points per game, just over nine points higher than the next closest girl. Prutsman was one of four Hazleton players to finish in double digits in the losing effort.
In eight previous matchups between PSUGA and PSU-Hazleton, PSUGA has not faired well with a record of 2-6. Last season, it was Hazleton that came out with a 73-53 win to move PSUGA to 0-3 in conference play. Brandy Taylor (Pittsburgh, PA./Imani Christian Academy) had a big game scoring 13 points as one of three players finishing in double digits in the game.
Tip-off for Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Penn State Hazleton. A live video stream will be provided courtesy of Penn State Hazleton that you can watch by clicking here.
