Middletown, Pa. – The Penn State Harrisburg women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday November 15th against the Misericordia Cougars. The Lions let an early Misericordia run set the tone on way to a 56-26 loss for the Blue and White.
Penn State Harrisburg Starters:
Aireo Payne (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin), Rachel Miller (Lebanon, Pa. / Cedar Crest), Kaitlyn Carmo (Palmyra, Pa / Palmyra Area), Raven Ransom (Steelton, PA / SciTech), Sidney Gordon (West Orange, NJ / West Orange).
Misericordia Starters:
Japriya Carroll, Jaclyn Hajec, Shannon Croasdale, Justine Seely, Rachel Carmody.
How it Happened:
Misericordia came out firing and worked up a 25-3 run in the first 13 minutes of the game. The Lions battled back with a 9-4 run of their own to bring the game within reach as the first half ended. Unfortunately, the third quarter played out with a similar story line to the first not giving Penn State Harrisburg a chance to take the momentum and put doubt in the Cougars as they fought to make a comeback. The Lions finished the game with an 8-9 fourth quarter in favor of the visitors.
Inside the numbers:
Misericordia took advantage of the Lions 24 turnovers by scoring 16 points directly off them compared to Harrisburg's three points from the 14 Cougar turnovers. The visitor's also held a strong advantage in rebounds at 52-39, proving to be too much for Penn State to overcome.
Impact Performer's:
The Cougars Rachel Carmody led the team with 15 points going 3-5 from the three-point line. Harrisburg was led by Becca Bailey who came off the bench to score eight points by going 2-3 from three and being perfect from the line. Senior Kaitlyn Carmo was strong on the boards leading the team with seven.
What's Next:
The Lions will hit the road on Friday November 18th for the Lebanon Valley College Tip-Off tournament where they will face off against SUNY Geneseo starting at 6:00 p.m.