Beaver falls short against Carlow

By: Matylda Zamudio

Monaca, Pa. -- After beginning the season 3-0, the Penn State Beaver women's basketball team suffered its first loss against Carlow University on Sunday, during day two of PSU Beaver Tournament.

In the first quarter, Beaver was slow to get an offense going and allowed Carlow to take an early 6-0 lead. After a foul called on Carlow, senior Brittany Jackson was sent to the free throw line, where she made both to finally put Beaver on the scoreboard at the 5:30 mark. Carlow's defenders put the pressure on Beaver, forcing the team to miss from the field. At the end of the first, Beaver only scored 3 of 17 from the field and missed 4 attempted 3-point shots. Beaver trailed 12-23 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Beaver looked disheveled as they continued to miss jump shots and struggled with turning the ball over. The ladies of Carlow outscored Beaver 19-13 to take a 42-25 lead over the Lady Lions before halftime.

Carlow ran into foul trouble in the third quarter and sent Beaver to the free throw line and score 8-10 at the line. Both teams struggled from the field, with Beaver only shooting 27.8 percent in the third. Beaver outscored Carlow 19-13 to cut down the deficit to 9 points heading into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, sophomore Diamond Thomas tried to spark a comeback by scoring 9 points in the nine minutes she played. While Beaver improved to shooting 42.1 percent from the field in the fourth, it wasn't enough to recover from the early halftime deficit. Beaver lost to Carlow, 64-73.

Thomas had a spectacular performance, putting up 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists followed by Alexis Cross, who contributed 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Off the bench, Jackson scored 9 points, 9 bounds and 2 steals for the day.

After tonight's loss against Carlow, Beaver sits at 3-1 overall in the regular season. The Lady Lions play their next game against Geneva at home this Tuesday, Nov. 20. Game time is at 5:30 p.m.