Ruble Reaches 1,000: Lady Roaring Lions Win Overtime Thriller
MCKEESPORT, Pa.—To say that the Lady Roaring Lions' 90-85 overtime win over Penn State Greater Allegheny on Monday was a wild one would be an understatement.
First off, at the 14:31 mark of the second half, Senior Kasey Ruble (Fairchance, Pa.) became the first women's basketball player in Fayette's history to reach the 1,000 career point mark. And it was vintage Ruble. Hesitation at the top of the key, cut hard off of a screen by Shelby Yourchik (Clarksville, Pa.), use that classic acceleration to blow by the helpless defender and lay the ball softly off of the glass. It's a scene Fayette fans have seen – well literally – a thousand times.
Ironically, Ruble reached the milestone one week after fellow point guard James Pratt (Uniontown, Pa.) surpassed 1,000 points.
But that was only part of the excitement. The best was yet to come.
Midway through the second half Tara Neely (Morgantown, W.Va.) drilled a three from the right baseline that gave Fayette a seemingly commanding 66-48 lead with 11 to play.
Greater Allegheny had other ideas. They held the Lady Roaring Lions scoreless for nearly six minutes. Taylor Fulton's three from the left side made it 68-64 and capped an improbable 16-2 run. The Lady Lions weren't finished though.
After Ruble hit a jumper to put Fayette up seven with three to play, Fulton answered with a three
Nakayla Lane then scored off a steal and drained a three from the top of the key to bring Greater Allegheny to within three, 78-75 with less than a minute to play.
Greater Allegheny got a stop in the ensuing Fayette possession and came down with a chance to tie. Fulton missed a three that went out of bounds off of a Fayette player with six second left. Fulton then hit a three from the right side to send the game to overtime.
Fulton gave GA the lead at 1:48 with a layup off of a steal. A minute later Caitlin Wontroba (Uniontown, Pa.) hit a floater to tie the game and was fouled.
On the play Greater Allegheny was assessed a technical foul and Kaitlin Novak (Bobtown, Pa.) made both free throws and Wontroba completed her three point play for a three point Lady Roaring Lion lead.
Fulton then missed a jumper that was gathered in by Shannon Flament (Charleroi, Pa.) who passed to Novak who was fouled and hit both free throws to seal the win.
Wontroba led the Lady Roaring Lions with 23 points and five steals. Ruble added 18, eight rebounds and four assists.
Novak added 12 including a six-for-eight performance from the free throw line.
Fayette also got offensive support off the bench as Flament scored 12 and grabbed a team –high nine rebounds.
Neely added 11 and Stephanie Longo (Point Marion, Pa.) pulled down six rebounds. Carly Gruss (Johnstown, Pa.) grabbed four rebounds and had a pair of assists.
With the win, Fayette improves to 10-7 overall and 9-1 in PSUAC and clinches its third consecutive PSUAC playoff berth. The Lady Roaring Lions travel to Penn State Beaver on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip.