WBB splits PSUAC road games

The Penn State women's basketball team bounced back from a Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) loss at Penn State Schuylkill Friday to pick up a win at Penn State Hazleton Saturday.

In the loss 71-59 at Schuylkill (6-10 overall, 6-5 PSUAC) Friday, Fayette (10-6, 7-4) played from behind most of the night.

The hosts led 20-14 after the first quarter and 35-26 at the half.

Fayette shot 34% (23-67) for the game and only 14% (2-14) from three-point territory.  Schuylkill shot 37% (25-67) over all and 37% (10-27) from beyond the arc.

"We struggled offensively, especially from the three-point line," said Fayette coach Scott Hillen. "We were not physical enough on the boards and were outrebounded (43-36)."

Dae-lin Burnsworth (Monarch, PA/Connellsville HS) led all scorers with 21 points and also had six assists while Kaitlyn Riley (Charleroi, PA/Charleroi HS) added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Anaejah Harris (Uniontown, PA/Albert Gallatin HS) had 11 rebounds for Fayette while Brooke Poling (Perryopolis, PA/Frazier HS) added eight.

In the 74-63 win at Hazleton (5-10, 4-6) on Saturday, Fayette led 21-16 after the first quarter but the hosts tied it up at the half, 34-34.

"We played well," Hillen said after the game Saturday. "t was a great team effort.  We executed our defense well, moved the ball on offense and had a better shot selection than we had on Friday."

Fayette held a 22-14 advantage in the third and put the game away in the fourth.

For the game, Fayette shot 42% (25-59) and hit 19 of 23 (83%) free throw attempts for the game.  Hazleton shot 39% (24-62) for the game while it only hit three of 10 (30%) free throw attempts.

Taylor McCormick (Laurel, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt HS) scored a career-high and a game-high 29 points on 11 of 20 (55%) shooting.  Burnsworth (20) and Riley (17) also hit double figures for Fayette with Harris (nine) and Riley (eight) combining for 17 rebounds.

Jaclyn Hess led Hazleton with 17 points.

Fayette returns to conference play Tuesday night as it hosts DuBois (11-6, 6-5).  Tipoff is set for 6 PM.

For more information on the women's basketball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/wbkb/index or follow us on Instagram @fayetteathletics.