No. 19 Fayette Advances to PSUAC FInals with 81-60 Win Over Penn State Greater Allegheny

February 24, 2012

MONT ALTO, Pa. - No. 1-seed Penn State Fayette capitalized on 29 turnovers by no. 5-seed Penn State Greater Allegheny en route to an 81-60 win in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament in the Multipurpose Building at Penn State Mont Alto.

The Roaring Lions (14-10, 13-2 PSUAC; no. 19 in the USCAA) used their suffocating defense to advance to the conference finals on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against the winner of the semifinal game between no. 2-seed Penn State Beaver and no. 3-seed Penn State Brandywine. The finals will also be played at Mont Alto.

Sophomore Jill Guthrie (Uniontown, Pa.) notched her third double-double against Greater Allegheny on the season, scoring game-highs with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Freshman Caitlin Wontroba (Uniontown, Pa.) added 24 points for Fayette, including three three-point field goals, while junior Kasey Ruble (Fairchance, Pa.) added 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Ruble hit three three-point field goals as well, while Guthrie secured four steals for the Roaring Lions.

Greater Allegheny jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, and Fayette took nearly two and a half minutes to score, before trading baskets to trail 12-11. Guthrie gave the Roaring Lions their first lead with an old fashioned three-point play, and the teams traded leads and saw three ties over the last five minutes in the first half. Fayette took the lead for good at 30-29 with 55 seconds left in the first, and another Guthrie three-point play gave the Roaring Lions a 33-30 advantage heading into halftime.

The Roaring Lions broke the game open with a 10-2 run to start the second half, and Greater Allegheny would never get closer than six the remainder of the game. Leading by six with 15:30 to play, senior Jennifer Thomas (Uniontown, Pa.) added a lay-up followed by a three and two fast break lay-ups from Wontroba to take a 52-39 lead. Fayette continued to extend their lead and six made free throws in the final three minutes gave Fayette the 21-point win.

Fayette shot 38 percent from the floor, but made six three-point field goals, and took 19 more free throws than their opponents. The Roaring Lions finished 23-for-31 from the charity stripe, while the Lady Lions went 7-for-12. Greater Allegheny won the rebounding battle, 48-36, but were no match for Fayette on the break. The Roaring Lions scored 22 points off of Greater Allegheny's 29 turnovers, including 12 on breakaway lay-ups. Fayette also made the most of their second chances, notching 22 second chance points.

Greater Allegheny was led by Rachel Halaszynski with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Monica Poupakis added 14 points. Taylor McCallister rounded out scorer's in double figures with 13 points.

Fayette will meet Beaver or Brandywine at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at Penn State Mont Alto. The Roaring Lions split two games with Beaver this season and knocked out Brandywine on the road in overtime two weeks ago.