Penn State Scranton Lady Lions Basketball Falls to the Bobcats

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

In an early Saturday matinee, the hometown Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad lost to the visiting Bryant and Stratton-Albany Bobcats 94-30 in the consolation game of the PSU Scranton Women's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament. With the tough loss, Scranton sees their overall season record fall to 0-3, after dropping their season opener last week to Vaughn College and then losing the opening game of this tournament on Friday to Five Towns College, who would eventually lose in the championship game on Saturday night 63-54 to the Central Penn Knights.

Bryant and Stratton-Albany got off to a red hot start in the contest, as they had a big 26-5 lead over Scranton at the end of the first quarter of play and by half-time held a sizeable 41-12 advantage. By the end of the third period, the Bobcats lead grew to 66-22 and by the game's final whistle, that lead would grow to a 64 point cushion.

In the matchup, Scranton was held to only one of their players scoring in double figures, as stand-out freshman Megan Gatto, who was named to the all-tournament team during this weekend's festivities, recorded a double-double, as she scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, to go along with her five steals while playing the entire 40 minutes of the ball game. An honorable mention also goes to Scranton's senior Sam Collins, who just missed out on a double-double, scoring nine points and tallying nine boards, to go along with three steals in a gritty 35 minutes of work.

Meanwhile, Bryant and Stratton-Albany was led on offense by five of their players scoring in double figures, as freshman Janessa Iyana Jones, fellow first-year player Amar' Ryi-Blessin Edwards, junior Na' Seyah Dix, sophomore Fatima Bakayoko, and junior Hasjina Gaddy set the pace for their squad. Jones scored a game-high 19 points, to go along with her five steals, three assists, two rebounds, and a block in her 24 minutes of stellar work. Edwards put up 16 points while shooting a perfect 8-8 from the field, to go along with her seven boards, five assists, two steals, and a block on the day. Dix contributed with a solid 13 points, five steals, three rebounds, and an assist. Bakayoko scored 12 points, had four assists, two boards, and a steal. Last but certainly not least, Gaddy came off the bench and provided a much needed a spark for her club in her 14 minutes of game action, as she recorded her team's only double-double on the day, as she had 12 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with an assist, a steal, a block, and shot a highly efficient 6-9 from the field.

Now head coach Tom McIntyre and his 0-3 Penn State Scranton Lady Lions will look to snap their three game losing streak and capture their first victory of the young basketball season when they host rival Penn State Hazleton to kick-off their all-important league play schedule this upcoming Tuesday, November 15^th, with tip-off at 6pm. Meanwhile, head coach Harry Rollie and his 1-2 Bryant and Stratton-Albany Bobcats, who lost in a 77-72 nail-biter in the opening game of this tournament to the eventual champion Central Penn on Friday night, will look to seize another victory in their next contest, when they travel on the road to play at Keene State College this Tuesday at 6pm.