MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's women's basketball team clinched home court advantage for the Volt Division side of the upcoming United East Championship Tournament with a 74-49 victory over conference rival St. Mary's (Md.) at the Capital Union Building on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 10.
On Senior Day, Jenna Montana buried five triples and shot 83.3 percent from beyond the arc en route to a team-high 15 points. Giahny Correa netted 13, while Abril Bowser added a dozen points off the bench. Ciani Redd-Howard finished one point shy of a double-double with nine and 11 rebounds.
After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Lions (13-11, 10-1 United East) hold a narrow 26-24 lead at the break, a big third quarter proved the difference in the home team's decisive win. Correa, Redd-Howard, and Montana combined to score the first nine points of the second half and push the advantage to double digits for the first time at the 7:31 mark. The Seahawks (13-10, 6-5 United East) pulled to within eight late in the period but another Montana triple stretched the lead back to 13 before the start of the fourth.
Montana opened the final quarter with another 3-ball to make it 48-34 before a Correa layup gave the Lions half a hundred with 8:19 left to play. Montana knocked down another one from beyond the arc to balloon the advantage to 18 at the 6:55 mark and Bowser got going late in the quarter with back-to-back buckets to put things on ice.
NOTABLES
- With the win, the Lions clinched home court for the upcoming United East Championship Tournament.
- The victory was Penn State Harrisburg's sixth in a row.
- The Lions forced 27 turnovers and scored 36 points off St. Mary's miscues.
- The home team connected on 11 3-pointers, compared to just four for the Seahawks.
- Montana finished with a team-high 15 points on 83.3 percent shooting from 3-point range.
- Correa tallied 13 points and three assists.
- Bowser contributed a dozen points and four rebounds off the bench.
- Redd-Howard finished one point shy of a double-double with nine and 11 boards.
- Mikayla Wright had six points and seven rebounds.
- Ali Lister and Bailey Oehmig combined for 14 points, six steals, and six boards off the bench.
SENIOR DAY
Prior to Saturday's contest, Penn State Harrisburg honored its four members of the Class of 2024 in Jayla Galbreath, Jenna Montana, Ciani Redd-Howard, and Mikayla Wright as part of the program's Senior Day festivities.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions travel to Lancaster Bible for another United East matchup in each team's regular season finale on Tuesday night, Feb. 10.
STAY CONNECTED
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