Williams-Fripp scores season high in loss to Lehigh Valley

Penn State Hazleton fell to Penn State Lehigh Valley on Tuesday night, suffering a 90-50 defeat for their 12th conference loss of the season. Lehigh Valley established themselves early, using full-court pressure to take command in the first quarter. Hazleton was forced into 14 first quarter turnovers, allowing the visitors to pull ahead 32-8 after the first ten minutes of action. From that point on, Lehigh Valley cruised with a healthy cushion going up by as many as 52 points at one point in the second half. Hazleton rallied to win the fourth quarter behind a 13 point effort from Topaz Williams-Fripp (Beaufort, SC) but the Lions were unable to make enough headway to get back in contention. 

The leading scorer for Penn State Lehigh Valley was Hillary Offing, who contributed 17 points. She also had an impressive performance on the boards, grabbing 11 rebounds. Samantha Columna also had a strong showing, scoring 15 points and recording seven steals. Gianna Torretta added 13 points to the team's total.

On the other hand, Penn State Hazleton struggled to find their rhythm throughout the game but Williams-Fripp was a definite bright spot for the team, scoring a season-high 28 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Williams-Fripp ended the game shooting an impressive 12-for-19 from the field including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Bry'Yasia Costen (Charleston, SC) also boasted a solid outing with 10 points and 10 rebounds, earning a double-double.

Hazleton will look to stop the skid and get back on track this Saturday when the Lions travel to Penn State Scranton for a 1:00 p.m. conference matchup.