Scranton Lady Lions Trounce Wells College to Stay Undefeated

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On Saturday evening, the Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad won their opening round contest in dominant fashion of their tip-off tournament they are hosting this Veteran's Day weekend by a resounding score of 70-20 over visiting non-conference foe Wells College. With the triumph, Scranton stays perfect on the young hoops season with a sparkling 3-0 overall record.

The Lions from Scranton seized control of the game early and never let up, as they outscored their opponent 21-3 in the first quarter of play, they were up a whopping 36-3 at half-time, up 52-6 at the end of the third stanza, and outscored Wells 18-14 in the fourth and final frame to ensure their stellar 50 point home victory.

While Wells was held to not a single player scoring in double digits thanks to strong defense by the Lady Lions, Scranton had a highly impressive five players put up double figure scoring performances, as sophomore Megan Gatto, freshman Lexi Iveson, fellow freshman Jay Contorno, senior Alahnna Balbach, and Micayla Arzie set the pace for their club. Gatto just missed out on a double-double scoring a game-high 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds, to go along with connecting on one of her shots from three point land, having a stingy five steals on defense, and adding an assist to boot. Iveson tallied 12 points, nailed in a pair of shots from beyond the arc, had four boards, a couple of assists, two steals, and a block. Contorno also put up a dozen points, made a couple of three pointers, had five steals, a quartet of assists, a trio of rebounds, and a block. Balbach notched a double-double with her 12 points and 12 boards, to go along with a hat trick of steals, two assists, and a block. Last but certainly not least, Arzie came off the bench and provided a nice spark for her team, as she filled up the stat sheet with her stalwart 12 points on a very efficient 5-8 shooting from the field, made 2-4 from downtown, had eight rebounds, and two steals during the festivities.

Now long-time head coach Tom McIntyre and his 3-0 Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad will look to stay perfect on the season and capture the tip-off tournament championship on Saturday afternoon with a 4pm scheduled opening tip.