Women's Hoops Falls to Daemen in Championship Round of Tip-Off Tournament

Women's Hoops Falls to Daemen in Championship Round of Tip-Off Tournament

McKeesport, Pa. - The Penn State Greater Allegheny women's basketball team earned themselves a bid to the championship round against Daemen in the 2013 Penn State Greater Allegheny Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

The first half started out with back-and-forth shots achieved for both Daemen and PSUGA. Senior point guard Taylor Fulton (Duquesne, Pa./West Mifflin) notched five points to boost GA to mirror Daemen's first ten points. Daemen started to pull away a bit, but junior power forward Christina Floyd (Philadelphia, Pa./Saints Neumann-Goretti) netted eight points to being the game to a 23-20 Daemen lead. Daemen allowed only eight GA points for the remainder of the half, swelling to a 42-28 lead to head into halftime.

The floor heard from other vital pieces of the GA offense, starting with freshman power forward Aaquila Youngblood (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy). Youngblood tallied four points out of the gate for Greater Allegheny, boosting the moral. Freshman power forward Tenisha Gibson and junior guard Shelby Bendick (White Oak, Pa./McKeesport Area) also contributed to the GA mark, closing the gap between the two championship contenders. Near the end of the game, Greater Allegheny saw help from not only Fulton, but also freshman point guard Shacobia Horn (Miami, Fla./Miami Southridge) and freshman guard Tra-Esha Carswell (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley). The GA offense grinded to bring the deficit within five with a minute to play. Daemen's efforts were too much for Greater Allegheny, as Daemen became women's champions for the 2013 tournament.

In the championship game, Fulton was the leading contributor to Greater Allegheny, as she finished the game with 22 points, five steals and eight assists. Youngblood managed 18 points and 10 rebounds. Floyd finished the game with 9 points and 12 rebounds.

For her additions to the Greater Allegheny squad over the course of the weekend tournament, Floyd was voted into the All-Tournament Team. She earned 37 points, 29 rebounds and five steals over the course of two games.

The women next see action on Friday, November 15th at Point Park University. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.