Lady Lions outlast Lehigh Valley

MONACA, Pa.–– In their first rematch since last year's PSUAC Championship, the Penn State Beaver women's basketball team took the reigning champion Penn State Lehigh Friday night 63-57 to earn the team's ninth straight conference win this season.

Sophomore guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana) was at the helm of the offense tonight, as she finished with a game-high 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Junior guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) and senior forward/center Cheyenne Lopez (Roswell/Goddard) both added on 9 points apiece and eight boards, while sophomore forward Mikayla Womer (Jackson Center/Lakeview) contributed 7 points and lead the team in rebounds with 10 boards coming off the bench. 

The teams played evenly matched for the early minutes of the first quarter until Cross drilled back to back 3-pointers to put Beaver up by 6 (14-8) then by 9 points with 2:38 left in the quarter (21-12), and the Lady Lions led 21-14 heading into the second. However, Lehigh Valley cut the Lady Lion's advantage down to only 2 points in the second by holding Beaver to 9 points while putting up 14 (30-28).

The Lady Lions played their most dominant quarter of the game in the third, as they outscored the PSUAC champs 22-12 to build a lead of 12 heading into the final stanza (52-40). While Beaver held a comfortable lead for almost the entire quarter, Lehigh Valley got the game within two possessions with only 16 seconds remaining on the game clock (61-55). But a late layup by sophomore guard Emily Keener (Utica), and the defense held off a comeback by the victors to seal a 63-57 victory for Beaver.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 36.4 percent from the field, connecting on 24-66 shots, 44.4 percent from 3-point range on 8-18 shots and 70 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 7-10 from the charity stripe.

After tonight's win, Beaver improves to a 12-2 record overall and remain in first place in the PSUAC conference standings (9-0). The Lady Lions will be back tomorrow, Jan. 18, for another home PSUAC conference match against Penn State Brandywine. The game begins at 1 p.m.