DUBOIS, Pa. — The Penn State DuBois Women’s basketball team (15-9, 7-7) entered their game against the number two seeded team in the PSUAC, Penn State Lehigh Valley (15-6, 12-2), knowing that a win was needed to advance into the PSUAC playoffs. Three solid quarters by DuBois was not enough as Lehigh Valley came up big in the fourth quarter to secure a 67-56 win to end DuBois’s season.
Penn State Dubois came out playing at a high level on defense during the first half, holding the high-powered Lehigh Valley team to a total of just 15 points in the first two frames and taking a 23-15 lead into halftime. “We played as well as we have all year in the first half and held their top three scorers to a total of 6 points going into the half,” stated Penn State DuBois Coach Pat Lewis. “We had a good game plan and the girls really played hard, knowing what was at stake.”
The third quarter turned into an offense slugfest as Lehigh Valley hit for 26 points in the frame but DuBois was able to counter with 25 points of their own. Six different players from both teams put points on the board and DuBois still held the lead, 48-41 headed into the fourth quarter.
A fourth quarter lapse by DuBois proved to be costly as Lehigh Valley caught fire and shot 10-19 from the field (53 percent) while DuBois went cold and only connected on three field goals in the quarter (3-19). DuBois however, dominated the boards all game, outrebounding Lehigh Valley 61-35 in the game. Coach Lewis said, “Going into the fourth quarter, I could see that we were wearing down. We were tired. We had a road game yesterday at Penn State Fayette and I believe that that took a toll on us.
“We had the lead almost the whole game until they tied it up at 4:53 to go," he added. "We just missed some shots that we normally make and had several costly turnovers late in the game.”
Kristen Williams (Eisenhower) finished the game with 13 points and senior Grace Earle (Cowanesque Valley) also ended her DuBois career in double figures with 12 points. Melody Young (Otto Eldred) and Hope Bridge (Punxsutawney) hauled in 10 and 12 rebounds respectively.
The Penn State DuBois Lady Lions finished their season with 15 wins and nine out of their ten players returning next season. Summing up the season, Lewis said, “Sometimes even I forget that six out of our 10 players were freshmen. We had a great and enjoyable season and we will look forward to improving again next year. However, we will all miss Grace Earle as she was a fantastic player for our program.”