Monaca, Pa. - Through forty nail-biting minutes, the Penn State Greater Allegheny women's basketball team went on to suffer a 75-71 setback over conference foe, Penn State Beaver, Wednesday night.
Senior point guard Taylor Fulton (Duquesne, Pa./West Mifflin) answered with the first jumper and three-pointer toward the GA tally. Junior Christina Floyd (Philadelphia, Pa./Saints Neumann-Goretti) got into the mix as the 5'11 power forward laid a jumper to inch closer to Beaver as they lead, 10-7 just four minutes into the game.
Fulton got up for another three-pointer before she earned two in free throws, but by that time, Beaver swelled to a 23-14 lead. Floyd dropped four as freshman point guard Shacobia Horn (Miami, Fla./Miami Southridge) achieved a jump shot. Freshman guard Tra-Esha Carswell (Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) contributed a jumper and a free-throw before freshman power foward Aaquila Youngblood (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) brought the game to a four-point deficit as the 6-1 PF put up a jumper. Youngblood would notch the final points for Greater Allegheny before halftime, heading into the next twenty minutes of play down 35-27.
Beaver opened up the scoring drive putting up a few more points toward their swell. Fulton came back hot, as she dropped five within forty seconds. Freshman power forward Tenisha Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) achieved a jumper before Fulton cashed in on two more free-throws, bringing the disadvantage to just three. Beaver earned a few more back before Fulton managed four more points, arriving short the same deficit. Beaver just continued to break free even though Fulton kept coming back for more. Taylor earned four free throws over a course of 90 seconds as Beaver brought their lead to 53-44 with ten minutes to play.
Gibson made a jumper before Fulton earned another three-pointer for GA. Six Greater Allegheny student-athletes contributed to the tally over the course of six minutes, including junior guard Shelby Bendick (White Oak, Pa./McKeesport Area). Fulton, Gibson and Youngblood checked in for GA in the final minutes of play, making their way back to Beaver. Fulton cashed in on a three-pointer with 21 seconds left to play to bring the game back within three points, 73-70. A GA foul allowed Beaver to earn two free-throws which was then followed by a Beaver foul. Youngblood was able to manage one free-throw before time ran down to zero, Greater Allegheny down 75-71.
The team came together to shoot 53.1% (17-of-32) from the free-throw line alongside shooting 32.4% (24-of-74) from the floor. The GA Lions forced 26 turnovers and grabbed up 12 steals. Through regulation, Greater Allegheny's offense was not able to take the lead once, capitalizing on their defeat.
Fulton closed the game with a season-high 41 points alongside dishing five assists and getting in the way for four steals. The point guard went 13-15 from the free-throw line as well as completing 6-of-13 three-pointers taken. Fulton comes off a huge week, as she earned not only PSUAC Player of the Week but also USCAA Player of the Week.
Floyd closed the game with seven points and 14 rebounds. Youngblood finished up with nine points and seven rebounds.
The team takes some time off for the holidays, as their next contest is not scheduled until January 16, 2014. The Lions (4-7, 2-2) are set to open up their new year of play in a Penn State University Athletic Conference match-up against Penn State DuBois. A double-header with the men, the women will tip-off at 6 p.m.
