Lady Lions finish first in PSUAC-West after winning final game of regular season, 89-50

By: Matylda Zamudio

MONACA, Pa. — The Penn State Beaver women's basketball team finished first in the PSUAC-West after defeating Penn State York at home on Saturday afternoon, 89-50.

Two-time PSUAC Player of the Week sophomore guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) led Beaver in scoring tonight with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals followed by junior  forward Cheyenne Lopez (Center Roswell/Goddard), who earned 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal for the day.

Freshman forward Mikayla Womer (Jackson/Lakeview) had a notable performance coming off the bench, earning a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

PSUAC Player of the Week freshman guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana) and freshman forward Jimya Chambers (Phoenix/Westview) both contributed 11 points apiece.

1st quarter: The game started off close with the teams tied at 4-4 in the first three minutes. However, the defensive began pressuring York and forced six turnovers in the remaining minutes of the first, which allowed Beaver enough scoring opportunities to take an early 12-0 run and hold York to only 6 points. Beaver led 25-6 heading into the second. 

2nd quarter: In the second, York struggled with making shots and went scoreless in the first seven minutes of the second as well as turning the ball over nine times thanks to Beaver's solid defense (42-6). The Lady Lions held York to only 18.2 shooting from the field on 2-11 attempts, which allowed them to outscore York 23-5 and take a 37-point lead at halftime (44-11).

3rd quarter: The teams were closer in scoring for this quarter, but the Lady Lions continued to control the tempo of the game and still came out with a 23-13 performance in the third, with Lopez scoring 8 points on 4-4 shots from the field. Beaver led 71-24 heading into the final quarter.

4th quarter: The fourth opened up with Womer scoring back-to-back buckets for Beaver (75-27), followed by Beaver built its largest lead of 50 points on a layup by Chambers at the 7:35 mark (77-27). While the ladies of York had a better performance offensively, outscoring Beaver 26-18, the Lady Lions' dominant three quarters secured their last victory of the season, winning by a final score of 89-50.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 20.3 higher than York from the field and 27.2 percent higher from the charity stripe. Beaver also outshot York 60-14 in points in the paint and 27-7 on second-chance points. Beaver outrebounded York 47-21, racked up 18 more assists (22-4) and scored 18 more points off turnovers (31-13). 

After today's win against New Kensington, the Lady Lions secure home-court advantage after finishing first in the PSUAC-West standings with a 13-2 record and also finished the regular season with a 20-4 overall record.

The Lady Lions will be back in action to face-off against Penn State DuBois at home in the first round of the PSUAC playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Game time is at 7:00 p.m.