Women's Basketball Falls to powerhouse Salisbury University, 73-52
GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – The Penn State Lehigh Valley Nittany Lions dropped the consolation game to Salisbury University, 73-52, as part of the Gwynedd Mercy Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon at The Griffin Complex.
After an initial scrum that saw the teams tied 4-4 over the first two-plus minutes, Salisbury connected on a three-pointer to put the Sea Gulls on top 7-4 at the 7:14 mark of the first quarter. That kicked off a 9-0 spurt over the next 2:08 that featured another Salisbury triple and an and-one that put SU in control 13-4. The Nittany Lions rallied for the next six in a row, with Anaya White's layup cutting the deficit to 13-10 at the 2:30 mark. SU answered with a jumper and another trey, building the SU cushion to 18-10 to close the first quarter.
The second quarter belong to the SU lead had ballooned to 29-15. The Sea Gulls kept their foot on the gas to close out the quarter, 34-15 with 2:06 to go. After Raynah Young's three that stopped the Nittany Lion bleeding, SU scored a layup, and SU drained a couple more free throws to make it 38-18 with 54 seconds until the half. PSU-LV scored five straight in the final minute of the half, but three Sea Gull free throws boosted the advantage to 41-23 at the break and Lehigh Valley would never gain control the rest of the 2nd half.
Gabby Giracello led the Nittany Lions with nine points off the bench, hitting 2-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line in 18 minutes. Samantha Columna and Jah'nel Oliver scored seven and six points, respectively, giving PSU-LV its top three scorers off the bench. PSU Lehigh Valley shot 30.2 percent (19-of-63) from the floor and went 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from the line. The Nittany Lions matched the Sea Gulls with 12 steals. Columna and Anaya White each accounted for three swipes. Giracello was named to the All-Tournament team.
PSULV will travel to PSU Mont Alto on Tuesday to kick off PSUAC play.
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