Lady Lions fall in rematch against Bluefield State

MONACA, Pa. – Penn State Beaver women's basketball team hosted Bluefield State College in the team's final home game of the regular season during the Wednesday Senior Night, where senior forward/center Cheyenne Lopez (Roswell/Goddard) was recognized for her achievements and tenure with the team. Since their January match, Beaver has held a seven-game winning streak. However, the streak was broken after Beaver fell 64-45 in the rematch.

Sophomore guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana) topped Beaver's scoring list with 14 points, three rebounds, two steals and one block, while Lopez finished right behind her with 12 points, five rebounds and one steal.

The teams played tough defense and were neck-to-neck on scoring in the opening minutes of the game. But Beaver managed to pull ahead by 3 after Cross was fouled on a layup and converted on her free throw (9-6). But the lead was shorted lived as Bluefield State put pressure on the Lady Lions as they turned the ball over four times and held the team to 2 points while putting up 8 points, resulting in Beaver trailing by 3 heading into the second (14-11). Things didn't get any better for Beaver in the second, as the Lady Lions were missing shots and continuing to the ball over, which allowed Bluefield State to pull ahead by 11 points and hold Beaver to only 4 points before halftime (26-15).

After the break, Cross drilled a trey at 8:30, which cut the deficit to only 8 points (26-18), but it was long before Bluefield to build the lead back to a double-digit hole after the visitors scored 5 unanswered points (33-21). Then at the 5:56 minute-mark, junior guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) helped cut the margin to single digits after she converted on both of her free-throw shots and followed them up with a bucket from behind the arch (37-26). However, Bluefield responded and outscored Beaver 10-6 in the final minutes of the third, as the Lady Lions trailed 47-33 heading into the final stanza. As the fourth commenced, the Lady Lions started to struggle on both sides of the floor as Bluefield sparked an offensive flurry and built up a 20-point lead at 4:08 (60-40). The Lady Lions were unable to overcome the deficit with the allotted time and fell 64-45 for the night.

Inside the Box Score: Beaver shot 23.8 percent from the field, connecting on 15-63 shots, 22.8 percent from 3-point range on 4-18 shots and 61.1 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 11-18 from the charity stripe.

The Lady Lions is now 20-4 record overall and will play their final regular-season game against PSUAC Penn State Fayette on the road this Friday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.