Penn State Beaver Uses Late Surge to Grab Women's Basketball Title
Penn State Beaver Upsets Schuylkill 59-51 To Become Back-To-Back Women’s Basketball Champions
West number one seed Penn State Beaver pulled it off as underdogs, defeating the East top seed (and the 3rd ranked team in the USCAA) Penn State Schuylkill in the 2022 PSUAC Women’s Basketball Championship, 59-51.
With this as well, Beaver also avenges its narrow overtime loss to Schuylkill earlier in the season by putting together a dominant second half on defense and a resilient game all together.
It was a slugfest, with both teams going blow-for-blow until the final buzzer sounded.
Leading the way for Beaver was West Defensive Player of the Year and Swiss army knife, Jimya Chambers. Chambers did it all for Beaver as has been the case all year, shooting just 5-for-20 from the field, but posting 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds (nine offensive), two assists and one steal.
Being down two at halftime, Beaver needed a spark if it wanted to upset Schuylkill, which had been a powerhouse all season long. Who else, but Chambers, would be the one to rise to the occasion. She led the way on offense, only making two free-throws in the third quarter, but also assisting on an Emily Keener 3-pointer to give Beaver its first lead of the game and recording five of her 10 rebounds in the quarter, four being offensive.
It was a close game down the stretch. Schuylkill wasn’t going down without a fight, but nor was Beaver, which ended up having all the answers. Alexis Cross hit two big buckets on back-to-back possessions for Beaver, then Caitlyn O’Hara sunk a pair of free-throws to put Schuylkill in its biggest hole of the entire game. Then Chambers would ice it with a jumper of her own.
Along with Chambers igniting the offense, Beaver also rode a suffocating press to a strong second-half defensively, forcing 21 Schuylkill turnovers and scoring 20 points off of them. Schuylkill also failed make a 3-pointer, going 0-for-7 from deep.
For Schuylkill, a promising 22-7 first-place season for Coach of the Year Charles Killian and East Player of the Year Alyssa Gerber comes to a conclusion. Gerber finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds.
Desiree Ellison led the way for Schuylkill in the points category with 21, but struggled in the second half with foul trouble. As did Nadia King, who started the game off hot with eight points in the first quarter, but finished with just nine.
Beaver wins its ninth championship in program history, tying the record for the most ever in PSUAC women’s basketball history. It’s also back-to-back championships for Beaver, last taking home the trophy in 2020, however there was no champion crowned in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zach Donaldson is a fourth-year student at University Park majoring in broadcast journalism and is currently an intern with the PSUAC. To contact him, email zach.donaldson1@gmail.com.