Women’s Basketball Pick Up Second Weekend Win

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto women's basketball team continued their winning ways and led from start-to-finish in Saturday's 49-39 conference win over PSU Scranton. The victory improved Mont Alto's overall record to 8-12 and the Nittany Lions are now 5-9 within the PSUAC.

Inside the Box Score

• Neither team shot particularly well from the field with both shooting under 30 percent. Mont Alto took advantage of their size advantage and out-rebounded Scranton by a 57-42 margin. PSUMA scored 34 points in the paint.
• Mont Alto held its largest lead of the game (16 points) in the third quarter after a Julianne Noveras (Gaithersburg, Md. / Gaithersburg) 3-pointer. Noveras finished with a team-high 12 points. She connected on 2-for-4 attempts from downtown.
• Senior Karley Coleman (Hanover, Pa. / Delone Catholic) and freshman Kara Newell (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) combined for 18 points within the backcourt.
• Mariah Martin (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, including eight offensive boards for the Nittany Lions.
• Jessica Berger had a solid game for PSU Scranton finishing with a game-high 17 points.

How it Happened

• Mont Alto raced out to an 8-0 run to kick things off as the spurt was capped off by a Kara Newell (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) layup in transition.
• Both teams were cold from the field for the rest of the period with neither team able to buy a bucket. The cold spurt continued through the early part of the second quarter before Newell put PSUMA up 17-9 with under six minutes left in the half.
• Jessica Berger hit a trey for the visitors to cut the momentum and the deficit to 17-12 with under four minutes. Mont Alto still took a 22-17 lead into halftime.
• PSUMA opened up a 34-18 advantage in the third quarter after the Noveras trey. Overall, the Lions outscored Scranton 14-5 within the quarter and took a 36-22 advantage into the final period.
• Mont Alto made shots when necessary and drained the clock for the 49-39 final.

Mont Alto will have another quick turnaround, as it will host crosstown rival Wilson College on Monday, February 4. Game time from the MAC is slated for 7 p.m.