Women Look to Extend Conference Win Streak vs. DuBois
The PSUGA Women's Basketball team looks to keep their conference win streak going when they face PSU-DuBois on Saturday at 1 p.m. PSUGA is off to their best conference start in program history and look to keep the momentum going as they head to the break.
McKeesport, PA. – The #19 Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball team (4-7, 3-0) has been on fire in conference play to start the 2018-2019 season. They are out to a 3-0 start to conference play for the first time in program history, and look to keep that success going when they battle Penn State DuBois (6-2, 3-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in their final game before the Christmas break.
The past couple weeks have seen the emergence of players like sophomore Tina Clybourn (Pittsburgh, PA./Brashear HS), who currently ranks 4th in the Penn State University Athletic Conference in three-point shooting percentage, who have made a big difference in this year’s team. Combine that with a strong season from leader Tearia Hartley (East Stroudsburg, PA./East Stroudsburg North HS) and you have the winning recipe for PSUGA early on.
Last time out, PSUGA faced their toughest challenge of the season when they fell to Villa Maria 95-75. PSUGA competed with the number one team in the nation throughout the first half holding as much as a 40-34 lead before heading into halftime down by just four. However, the Vikings hit four three-pointers out of the half and pulled away to pick up the victory.
Junior Jayla Ellis (Pittsburgh, PA./Woodland Hills HS) had a break-out game scoring a season high 23 points in the loss while Alex Hall (Washington, D.C./Bell HS) had 12 points. PSUGA’s 75-point outburst was their third highest offensive output of the season and upped their average to 58.5 points per game through their first 11 games.
PSUGA head coach Chrissy French has eluded to the team’s buy-in as one of the main reasons for their early season success this year. They faced some tough competition in the beginning of the year and that has gotten them ready for the competition that they have seen across the PSUAC.
Saturday will prove to be their toughest conference test of the season when they battle Penn State DuBois, a team who has also won each of their last three conference games. They picked up a 73-59 road win over PSU-Fayette their last time out. The teams battled to an even score after one quarter, but a 23-point second quarter was enough to lift DuBois to victory.
PSU-DuBois got a big boost from their bench as Hope Bridge led the way with 16 points off the bench while Melody Young finished right behind her with 14 points in the win. With the win, DuBois moved into third place in the PSUAC West sitting right behind PSUGA as the teams enter play on Saturday.
This rivalry has been a heated one through the years with PSU-DuBois holding the advantage with a record of 9-6 against PSUGA in 15 previous matchups. Last season, The two teams split the season series with the home teams taking wins in each of the two games. PSUGA got the last laugh with a 67-62 win at the end of last season that would knock PSU-DuBois out of the playoff picture. Ellis led the way with 16 points and was one of five PSUGA players to finish in double digits on the day.
Tip-off for Saturdays game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the campus of Penn State DuBois. A live stream will be provided by PSU-DuBois and you can watch all the action live by clicking here.