Lady Lions defeat Akron-Wayne College in road game
ORRVILLE, Ohio–– The Penn State Beaver women's basketball team headed to Ohio for a road game against the University of Akron-Wayne College, where the Lady Lions routed the hosted 90-63 Wednesday night.
Junior guard Diamond Thomas (Pittsburgh/Carlynton) lead the team with a game-high 18 points, nine steals, seven assists and two rebounds, followed by senior forward/center Cheyenne Lopez (Roswell/Goddard) with 14 points, one assist and one block.
Freshman guard Kaitlin Gabbidon (Valley Stream/Central) had a notable performance as she finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals coming off the bench.
The reserves played a major role in the win, contributing 35 of the team's 90 points in the game.
Akron-Wayne College had no answer for Beaver's prolific offense in the first quarter, as the Lady Lions cruised to 32 points while the defense held the home team to only 9. Thomas was the spark to the first quarter advantage with 12 points, hitting 4-10 shots from the field and 4-4 for the free-throw line. Beaver controlled the tempo for the remaining minutes of the half, as the team outscored Akron-Wayne College 25-18 to take a 30-point lead at halftime (57-27).
After the break, the Lady Lions built their largest lead of 43 points in the third quarter at the 2:27 mark after freshman forward Amaya Wright (Waynesville) hit a 2-point bucket to put the score at 80-37. While Akron-Wayne College played better offensively by outscoring Beaver 20-10 in the last stanza of the game, the early deficit was too much for the host to overcome as a final deep jumper by freshman guard Nia Holley (Stamford/Westhill High School) iced the game for the Lady Lions, as they picked up a 90-63 for the night.
Box Score Highlights: Beaver shot 44.4 percent from the field, connecting on 36-81 shots, 42.1 percent from 3-point range on 8-19 shots and 55.6 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 17-30 from the charity stripe.
Beaver is now 16-3 overall will be back at home on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m.