Women Look to Inch Closer to Playoff Spot vs. Mont Alto
The PSUGa Women's Basketball team looks to continue their stretch of winning when they take on PSU-Mont Alto on Tuesday. The triple-threat of Tina Clybourn, Jayla Ellis, and Tearia Hartley looks to continue to lead the offense to victory.
McKeesport, PA. – The #19 Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball Team (7-7, 5-1) have been on a roll this season winning five of their first six conference games while sitting in second place in the Penn State University Athletic Conference West Division. They look to continue their recent string of success when they take on Penn State Mont Alto (3-9, 0-6) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
PSUGA is coming off a bounce back win over PSU-Fayette last Wednesday when they picked up a 79-73 win. After falling behind early in the game, PSUGA showed perseverance fighting back to tie things up at halftime before eventually putting up 41 second half points to pick up their fifth conference win of the season.
Tina Clybourn (Pittsburgh, PA./Brashear HS) got her three-point shot back after a down game finishing with five as part of a 19-point effort. On the defensive side of the ball, Lexus Santiago (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian Academy) continued her strong 2019 collecting 12 rebounds and marking the second straight double digit rebound game for the sophomore. All-in-all PSUGA had four different players, including three starters, finish in double digits in the win.
The offense has been clicking for PSUGA this season and especially in conference play. In the team’s first six conference games, the offense has combined to average 66.5 points per game this season, almost 11 points higher then their 55.5 ppg average out of conference play. With the three-headed monster of Clybourn, Jayla Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills HS), and Tearia Hartley (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg North HS) leading their offense, PSUGA has already been able to surpass their complete win total in 2017-2018 and are well on their way to a PSUAC playoff spot.
While PSUGA has been soaring through conference play this season, it has been a completely different story for Mont Alto. They are currently on a season long eight game losing streak and, because of a Central Penn forfeit, haven’t officially won a game since November 13th 2018. Their last game came on Friday when they fell to the University of Maine Fort-Kent 81-31.
After keeping the game close early, Mont Alto managed just four points in the second quarter and trailed 38-16 at halftime before eventually falling in the second half. Madison Bishop led the way for Mont Alto with 13 points while being the only player to finish with more then five points in the game.
PSUGA has had success in the past against Mont Alto going 6-3 in nine previous matchups. Last season, it was Mont Alto that got the advantage scoring a 61-53 win over PSUGA on January 26th 2018. Ellis led the way on that day with 16 points Alex Hall (Washington, D.C./Bell HS) added 12 in the loss.
Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the campus of PSU-Mont Alto. You can follow the game live with live stats by clicking here.