Lady Lions fend off Penn State Wilkes-Barre for third PSUAC win

By: Matylda Zamudio

Lehman, Pa.—Penn State Beaver's 11-point run overcame PSUAC rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre in Saturday's road game victory, 73-52.

Sophomore guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) topped Beaver's scoring list with a game-high 23 points, six assists and six rebounds, followed by Emily Keener (Utica) who contributed 10 points off her own. Freshman forward Jimya Chambers (Phoenix/Westview) had a notable 10 rebounds, five assist and four steals in the game. 

Senior point guard Ally Rudolph (Marion/Albert Gallatin) landed second on Beaver's scoring list, throwing down 16 points coming off the bench as well as Senior USCAA First Team All-American, 2017-18 PSUAC All-Conference First Team and 2017-18 PSUAC Player of the Year forward Brittany Jackson (Turtle Creek/Westinghouse) earned 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

1st quarter: Wilkes-Barre opened up the first quarter by scoring a quick layup, but Keener answer for Beaver 10 seconds later, sinking a 3-pointer from downtown to take the lead (3-2). Wilkes-Barre then took a 6-point lead and little over two minutes later until Rudolph hit a 3-point shot of her own to bring it to a one-possession game (19-16). But a mid-quarter run by Wilkes-Barre put Beaver down by 13 points at the 5:52 mark. Down the stretch, Jackson scored a pair of late-quarter layups to tie the game at 48-48 and foster an 11-point run in under two minutes to give Beaver a 9-point lead (57-48). This late-game turnaround for Beaver sparked the ladies on both sides of the floor, as the team went on to score another 16 points while holding Wilkes-Barre to only 4 points in the final two minutes of the game. Beaver defeated Wilkes-Barre with a final score of 73-52.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver outscored Wilkes-Barre 46-32 in the paint, and Beaver's bench outscored Wilkes-Barre 34-14. The team built its largest lead of 21 points at the 42-second mark. Beaver shot 15.3 percent higher than Wilkes-Barre from the field, 5 percent higher from 3-point range, racked up eight more rebounds, nine more assists and 6 more points off turnovers.

After tonight's victory against Wilkes-Barre, the Lady Lions are on a four-game winning streak and hold a 3-0 record in the PSUAC standings as well as improve to 7-1 overall in the regular season.

The Lady Lions continue to prevail early in the conference and return to action on Friday, Dec. 7 for the team's fourth-straight conference road game against rival Penn State Mont Alto. Game time begins at 6 p.m.