Lady Lions ice perfect PSUAC record with road win against Fayette

LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. – In the final game of the season, the no.1 seeded Penn State Beaver women's basketball team delivered another dominant 92-69 road performance against PSUAC rival and no. 2 seeded in the West, Penn State Fayette Friday night.

Junior guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton), topped the scoring list for Beaver with a game-high 20 points, five steals, three assists and two rebounds coming, followed by sophomore guard Alexis Cross (Columbiana), who earned a double-double for the evening with 17 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and five assists.

Sophomore guard Emily Keener (Utica) added on 14 points, three rebounds and steal, while senior forward/center Cheyenne Lopez (Roswell/Goddard) tallied up 13 points, six rebounds, two blocks and one assist.

Sophomore forward Jimya Chambers (Phoenix/Westview) rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

The teams kept the game close for the early minutes of the first until the Lady Lions made a 9-3 run and pull ahead of Fayette by 8 points (18-10). The Lady Lions then pulled ahead by double-digits thanks to a 2-point play by Chambers off an offensive rebound at 2:25 (23-12). The defense kept the pressure on Fayette, holding the home team to only 4 points in the final two minutes of the quarter to prompt Beaver to lead 29-16 heading into the second. The Lady Lions stayed lock-in pon both sides of the floor and never lost a double-digit lead in the second, as they outscored Fayette 21-14 in the quarter to build up a 20-point advantage before halftime (50-30).

The Lady Lions controlled the tempo of the game from here out as Beaver built its largest lead of 34 points on a jump shot by Lopez at 2:29 in the third (73-39). While Fayette was able to outscore the Lady Lions in the final stanza 20-16, the early deficit was too much for the home team to overcome as the Lady Lions won their 17th PSUAC conference game 92-69.

Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 45.3 percent from the field, connecting on 34-75 shots, 42.9 percent from 3-point range on 6-14 shots and 62.1 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 18-29 from the charity stripe.

Beaver finishes the regular season with a 21-4 record overall and in first place in the PSUAC conference standings (17-0). The Lady Lions will face Penn State Mont Alto in the quarter final round of the playoffs this Tuesday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.