WBB splits PSUAC games

The Penn State Fayette women's basketball team split a pair of Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) games over the weekend, and in doing so, the program gave head coach Scott Hillen his 200^th career collegiate coaching win.

Friday night, Fayette (2-2 overall, 1-1 PSUAC) lost a 56-55 heartbreaker at Penn State Schuylkill (4-5, 3-0) before winning at Penn State Hazleton (3-2, 2-1) Saturday.

The difference in the game at Schuylkill was the hosts made 19 of 30 (63.3 percent) free throw attempts while Fayette only attempted six free throws, making four (66.7 percent).  Fayette was called for 23 fouls while Schuylkill was whistled 12 times.

 Fayette shot 45.8 percent (22-48) from the floor and 50 percent (7-14) from deep while Schuylkill shot 32.1 percent (18-56) from the floor and 14.3 percent (1-7) from beyond the arc.  Another factor was Fayette turned the ball over 33 times while Schuylkill had 27 miscues.

Taylor McCormick (Laurel, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt HS) and ZaMeriah Edwards (Houston, PA/Chartiers Houston HS) led Fayette with 11 points each.

"We had too many mental mistakes (Friday night)," said Hillen. "We played well, but we just made mistakes at crucial times."

In Saturday's game, McCormick led all scorers with 24 points while Alison Boykin (Canton, OH/Canton McKinley HS) added 10 points.  Abby Bickerton (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and Morgan Rigsby (West Portsmith, OH/West Portsmith HS) added nine.

Fayette shot 36.7 percent (18-49) for the game and 41.7 percent (5-12) from deep while Hazleton shot 39.2 percent (20-51) for the game and 14.3 percent (2-14) from downtown.

"We played great team defense Saturday," said Hillen. "The team is buying into the defense and giving their all.  It was a good way to bounce back after a disappointing one-point loss."

The win was Hillen's 63^rd in six seasons at Fayette after winning 137 games in eight seasons at Westmoreland County Community College.  When asked what the milestone means to him, Hillen said the wins are about the teams and he wants the team to continue to work hard to get better.

Fayette returns to action with it heads to Seton Hill Sunday for a non-conference game.  Tipoff is at 4:00 p.m.

"We will work to get our next win," he said about reaching 200 wins. "We will only get one practice before our next game, but we will continue to work on defense and the things we do.  They will be the best team on our schedule, but we will prepare like any other game.  We will be a big underdog but should have fresh legs after the break."

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