Lady Lions claim seventh-straight victory against Geneva, 82-68

By: Matylda Zamudio

Beaver Falls, Pa. – The Penn State Beaver women's basketball team took down the ladies of Geneva College on their home turf on Saturday in the rival's second matchup of the season, earning a seventh-straight win for the Lady Lions.

Two-time PSUAC Player of the Week, sophomore guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) scored a game-high 24 points, eight assists, eight boards and seven steals in the 37 minutes she played, followed by freshman guard Emily Keener (Utica) with 18 points and eight rebounds and Junior forward Cheyenne Lopez (Center Roswell/Goddard) with 17 points and five rebounds of her own.

1st quarter: While Geneva took an early 4-point lead to start that game, two early foul calls in the first two minutes sent freshman forward Jimya Chambers (Phoenix/Westview) and freshman guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana) both to the free-throw line, earning one each for Beaver (4-2). As the quarter progressed, Beaver's defense put the pressure on Geneva's players they began to struggle with turning the ball over and putting Beaver within striking distance to take the lead. At 2:03, senior point guard Ally Rudolph(Marion/Albert Gallatin) found Cross, who fired jumper from behind the arch to give Beaver its first lead of the game (14-13). At the 26-second mark, Keener fired a 3-pointer of her own to give Beaver a two-score lead (21-15). Beaver led 23-17.

2nd quarter: Gevena answered with a 3-point shot to cut Beaver's lead to only 3 points less than a minute into the second. But Keener answered right back with another shot from downtown (26-20). But Gevena fought back and scored 11-straight points to take back the lead (31-25), but Beaver cut its deficit down to only 1 point before the half (38-37).

3rd quarter: Momentum shifted back to Beaver once the second half began, with Thomas earning back-to-back points and regain the lead less than a minute in (41-38). The game stayed close for the next three minutes until five steals by the defense helped Beaver to take over the game with a 10-point run (53-40) and led by 56-46 at the end of the third.

4th quarter: Beaver ran into trouble in the as Geneva cut the lead down to 1 point at 6:43 (58-57). However, the Lady Lions took over the game shortly after and held Gevena to only 6 points in the last stretch of the game. Beaver won 82-68. 

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 8.9 percent higher than Geneva from the field. Beaver outscored Geneva 42-32 in the paint, 35-17 on points off turnovers, 22-9 on fast break points, racked up eight more assists and allowed 12 fewer turnovers. Beaver also built its largest lead of 14 points at the 4:11 mark in the third quarter.

The Lady Lions improve to 10-1 regular season record after tonight's win and hold the first-place spot in the PSUAC standings (4-0)

Beaver will be on road Monday, Dec. 17 to face off against Bethany College. Game time is set for 2 p.m.