Lady Lions blow past Brandywine 86-66

MONACA, Pa.–– The Penn State Beaver women's basketball team kept its conference record untouched with a second of back-to-back PSUAC conference wins against Penn State Brandywine Saturday afternoon, 86-66.

Senior forward/center Cheyenne Lopez (Roswell/Goddard) led the way for Beaver today, earning a double-double with 19 points, 16 rebounds, three steals and one block, followed by sophomore guard Emily Keener (Utica), who also earned 19 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steal for the day.

Junior guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) finished with 16 points, five steals, two boards and two assists.

The teams kept it close in the first quarter, with Beaver ahead by only 1 point (12-11). In the second, Thomas scored 9 straight points for Beaver in the first two and a half minutes, putting Beaver ahead by 4 points (19-15). The game stayed close for the next few possessions until Keener hit back-to-back 3-point jumpers to push Beaver ahead by 8 (26-18). The Lady Lions finally built a double-digit lead only eight seconds shy of halftime thanks to a late shot from the charity stripe by sophomore guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana).

As the second half began, the Lady Lions scored 7 unanswered points to bring the score to 44-27. But Brandywine fought back and cut the deficit to single digits at the 3:47 mark in the third (49-40). But Beaver got rolling again and outscored Brandywine 10-4 in the final minutes of the third to take a 14-point advantage heading into the fourth (59-45). But Beaver never allowed the ladies of Brandywine to get within single digits again, outscoring them 27-20 in the quarter to earn an 86-66 PSUAC conference.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 51.6 percent from the field, connecting on 33-64 shots, 62.5 percent from 3-point range on 5-8 shots and 57.7 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 15-26 from the charity stripe.

After tonight's win, Beaver improves to a 13-2 record overall and remains in first place in the PSUAC conference standings (9-0). The Lady Lions will be on the road for their next game on Tuesday, Jan. 21, against Bluefield State College. The game begins at 6 p.m.