ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. - Penn State Harrisburg's women's basketball suffered its first conference defeat of the season with a 74-63 road loss at United East rival St. Mary's (Md.) on Wednesday night, Jan. 17.
Jayla Galbreath returned to action with a team-high 15 points, while Ali Lister recorded the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Giahny Correa added 14 points and Abril Bowser netted 11 to go along with a game-high five steals.
After trailing by as many as 16 points midway through the third quarter, the Lions (7-11, 4-1 United East) rallied to cut the deficit to one possession at 56-53 following a Mikayla Wright layup with 5:36 left to play.
A pair of Galbreath free throws with less than four minutes remaining kept the visitors within striking distance but Penn State Harrisburg had no answer for Samantha Blaylock's hot hand down the stretch, as she hit back-to-back 3-balls and converted a pair of foul shots to push the advantage to 66-59 at the 1:52 mark. With the Lions forced to foul in crunch time, she went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to close it out.
The Seahawks (11-6, 4-1 United East) jumped out to a 9-0 lead to begin the game and led 17-11 after one. A Galbreath triple cut the deficit to three midway through the second quarter but the home team put together a 13-2 run to create separation with 1:41 remaining before the break. Nicole Hernandez and Correa converted back-to-back layups to pull their team to within eight at halftime.
After the break, it was all St. Mary's through the first five minutes of the third quarter as the Seahawks used a 13-5 spurt to grab their largest lead of the night at 46-30 at the 4:47 mark, prompting a furious comeback attempt by Penn State Harrisburg that fizzled out in the final minutes.
NOTABLES
- The Lions shot 32.4 percent from the floor, just 16 percent from beyond the arc, and just 56.6 percent from the foul line.
- St. Mary's (Md.) dominated on the glass, finishing with a 55-36 rebounding edge.
- The Lions recorded assists on just five of their 23 field goals.
- Penn State Harrisburg scored 28 points off 29 Seahawk turnovers.
- Galbreath finished with a team-high 15 points. She sits just 36 shy of 1,000 career points.
- Lister posted her first career double-double with 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
- Bowser finished with 11 points and a game-high five steals.
- Correa added 14 points and four steals off the bench.
- Wright pulled down 10 boards to go along with five points in a reserve role.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions continue conference play when they host United East foe Lancaster Bible at the Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon.
STAY CONNECTED
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