Late defense, McCormick carry WBB to win

It took more than a half to get going after a 34-day layoff, but the Penn State Fayette women's basketball team downed Penn State Shenango in Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) action Friday, 51-49.  With the win, Fayette remains tied atop the PSUAC West division.

"We started off pretty bad and were playing as if we were still on Christmas break," said head coach Scott Hillen.  "Considering we only made five of our 31 shot attempts in the first half, we were lucky to only be down seven points at halftime.  Even after starting the second half playing badly and being down by 14, we switched up our defense and our team started playing with more energy on that side of the court."

The score was tied 10-10 after the first quarter and Shenango's 13-6 advantage in the second gave the guests a 23-16 lead at the half.  It built a 38-24 lead with 3:21 left in the third, however, Fayette ramped up the defense and went on a 12-0 run to trim Shenango's lead to 38-36 with 7:31 to go in the game. 

"Our defense gave us a much-needed spark," said Hillen.  "And that's when Taylor (McCormick) took over."

Fayette (7-5 overall, 6-4 PSUAC) had the momentum and McCormick (Laurel, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt HS) took control of the game as she scored 18 of the team's last 22 points.  A McCormick layup with 4:27 to play gave Fayette a 44-43 lead, its first lead since 12-10 with 8:38 to go in the second quarter. 

With the game tied at 46-46 with 1:38 left, McCormick hit a jumper to give Fayette a two-point advantage and after a defensive stop by Fayette, McCormick made a second jumper in as many trips to give Fayette a 50-46 lead. 

Jaysina Sellers scored for Shenango (3-7, 3-6) with 0:35 to play to make the score 50-48.  After a Fayette foul, Aneziah Fryer stepped to the line for two free throws looking to tie the game with two seconds left.  After making the first, she missed the second and McCormick made a free throw to close out the scoring and the win.

McCormick led all scorers with 29 points and added nine rebounds while Fryer paced Shenango with 16 points. 

Neither team shot well in the defensive struggle.  Fayette only made 19 of 66 shot attempts (28.8 percent) while Shenango only made 16 of 55 attempts (29.1 percent).  Fayette only made four of its 15 attempts (26.7 percent) from three-point territory while Shenango missed all 17 of its attempts.  From the charity stripe, Shenango made 17 of 27 attempts (63 percent) while Fayette made nine of its 12 attempts (75 percent). 

Fayette converted 19 Shenango turnovers into nine points, but Shenango held the advantage in second chance points (10-4), points in the paint (24-12) and in rebounds (45-32).

Sunday's game against Penn State Brandywine (7-10, 4-4) was postponed due to weather, so Fayette, who is tied with Penn State Greater Allegheny (8-8, 6-3) atop the PSUAC West division, returns to the court Wednesday when it hosts Penn State DuBois (4-8, 4-6).

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