Lady Lions soar past Scranton, 93-45

By: Matylda Zamudio

MONACA, Pa.––The Penn State Beaver women's basketball team is now on a three-game winning streak after scoring a second home this week against Penn State Scranton in a blow-out 93-45 victory Friday night.

Sophomore guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana) led the offense for Beaver tonight with 18 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists, followed by junior guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton), who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Coming off the bench, freshman guard Kaitlin Gabbidon (Valley Stream/Central) had an impactful performance, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist, followed by freshman forward Amaya Wright (Waynesville), who finished with 10 points, four rebounds, one steal and one block.

1st quarter: The Lady Lions opened up with their most dominant quarter of the game. Scranton had no answer to Beaver's fiery offense that took a 21-2 run while the defense forced eight turnovers by Scranton down to the 2:41 mark. Beaver things rolling early and led 28-10 heading into the second.

2nd quarter: The defense played another solid quarter by holding Scranton to only 8 points while the offense racked up another 18 points to give Beaver a 46-18 lead at halftime.

3rd quarter Cross contributed 7 of Beaver's 20 points in the third, while Gabbidon hit a layup at the 2:32 mark and then banked a 3-point jumper less than a minute later to propel Beaver to a 66-33 edge heading into the final quarter.

4th quarter: The Lady Lions build their largest lead of the night of 50 points (93-53) at the: 52-minute mark after Gabbidon and freshman guard Nia Holley (Stamford/Westhill High School) combined for back-to-back shots from behind the arc to secure a 93-45 win for the night.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 43.7 percent from the field and 60 percent from the free-throw line. The Lady Lions also outscored Scranton 37-13 on points off turnovers, 22-2 on second-chance points and 50-10 on points in the paint.

Beaver also picked up 24 more rebounds, nine more assists and 13 fewer turnovers than Scranton. The bench also contributed 41 points tonight.

After tonight's win, the Lady Lions improve to a 3-1 record overall and sit at a 2-0 in the PSUAC standings. The Lady Lions will be back tomorrow, Nov. 22, for more PSUAC conference action against Penn State Wilkes-Barre. The game starts at 1 p.m.