Lady Lions fall in conference opener

Media, Pa.- Four Lady Lions reached double figures in Tuesday's Penn State University Athletic Conference opener but collective efforts of Hazleton weren't enough to slow Brandywine on their home court. The Hazleton offense would stall in the second quarter and led to strong second half for Brandywine to took home the win with an 83-61 defeat of Hazleton. 

Senior Mckenzie Prutsman (Jasper, Ny.) led all scorers on Tuesday, notching 19 points with eight assists and six rebounds. Also in the mix for Hazleton was Mekenzie Wolfe (Grove City, Pa.) who racked up her first double-double of the season. Wolfe grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds Tuesday, adding 11 points and three steals respectively. Rounding out the top performers for Hazleton were sophomores Kendra Pfeil (Hazleton, Pa.) and Lauren Pataki (Hazleton, Pa.) who both added 10 points each the Lady Lions' efforts.

Hazleton got off to a hot start going up 10-5 in the first three minutes of action and quickly expanded their lead. Three point baskets from senior Katie Oldziejewski (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and Breann Fetterman (Mountain Top, Pa.) extended the Lion's lead to 11 points midway through the period and Hazleton would close the period on a six point run to take a 24-11 lead into the first intermission. Unfortunately for the Lady Lions, the offense would stall in the second frame. Hazleton would tally just eight points in the period on 4-of-15 shooting, seeing their double-digit lead cut to just two points at the midway point. 

The Lady Lions retained their advantage for several minutes in the third period but the Brandywine offense began to heat up. Brandywine forced eight Hazleton turnovers in the period and connected on 9-of-22 field goals in the third quarter to ahead 54-45. Brandywine parlayed that success into a dominant fourth quarter to pull away from Hazleton for good. The home team tallied 9-of-15 shooting attempts and 11-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe to outscore the Lady Lions 29-16 in the fourth quarter and take the conference opener 83-61.

Next up: Conference play gets into full swing over the weekend with a pair of PSUAC games at Hazleton. The Lady Lions will host Penn State Greater Allegheny on Friday, November 30 at 6:00 p.m. followed by visit from Penn State DuBois on Saturday afternoon.