Lady Lions outpace CCBC, 95-46

By: Matylda Zamudio

Monaca, Pa. – The Penn State Beaver Lady Lion's rock-solid defense forced 43 turnovers by Community College of Beaver County to forge a 95-46 victory at home Friday night.

Two-time PSUAC Player of the Week sophomore guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) topped Beaver's scoring list tonight with a game-high 24 points followed by freshman guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana), who earned herself a triple-double with 19 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds and 11 steals. Sophomore guard Libby Thomas (New Brighton) also contributed 10 points coming off the bench.

1st quarter: The Lady Lions set the tempo early by scoring 9 unanswered points in the first minute of the game.  At 6:59, the defense forced four turnovers by CCBC and allowed Beaver to take earned a 10-point run (21-2). With under a minute left in the first, Thomas scored back-to-back jump shots to give Beaver a by 17-point lead entering the second quarter (27-10).

2nd quarter: Beaver went scoreless in the first two minutes of the second until Cross stole the ball back for Beaver and assisted on a layup by freshman forward Jimya Chambers (Phoenix/Westview) and fostered a 6-point run to give Beaver a 21-point lead at the 5:31 minute-mark (38-17). Beaver remained dominant on both sides of the floor and led by 46-25 at halftime.

3rd quarter: As the third quarter began, Beaver's offense got hot right out of the gate and forged a 15-point run (63-25), holding CCBC scoreless down to the 5:37 minute-mark. In the remaining minutes of the third, CCBC had no answer to Beaver's defensive presence, who forced five additional turnovers by CCBC and propelled Beaver to take a 34-point heading into the final quarter (70-36). 

4th quarter: Beaver replicated its first-quarter performance in the fourth, only allowing CCBC to score 10 points and facilitating a 25-point quarter for the offense. Beaver defeated CCBC by a final score of 95-46.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 81.8 percent from the charity stripe. The bench scored 31 points tonight, and the defense held CCBC to only 10 points in the first and fourth quarter. Beaver built its largest lead of 51 points at the 1:25 mark in the fourth quarter. Beaver outscored CCBC 44-22 in the paint, 57-12 on points off turnovers, 11-4 on second-chance points and allowed 22 fewer turnovers. Beaver also racked up 10 more boards and 28 more assists than CCBC.

The Lady Lions improve to 9-1 regular season record after tonight's win and hold the first-place spot in the PSUAC standings (4-0)

Beaver will be on road Saturday, Dec. 15 to face off against Geneva College. Game time is set for 2 p.m.