Scranton Lady Lions Drop Season Opener

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

In a Saturday home matinee, the Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad fell in their hard fought season opener in the tip-off tournament championship contest against non-conference foe the Byrant & Stratton-Syracuse Bobcats by a 12 point, 66-54 margin. With this defeat to kick-off their 2024-2025 hoops campaign, the Lions will now head into their all-important conference play schedule this upcoming week.

The road warrior Bobcats from Syracuse raced out to a quick 17-10 lead after the first quarter of play, before the Lions would battle back showing tremendous grit and determination outpacing their opponent 20-17 to only be down by a mere four points, 34-30, at the half-time break in the action. In the third stanza the Bobcats outscored Scranton by just two points, 19-17, to take a 53-47 advantage into the last quarter. Finally, in the fourth and final frame Bryant & Stratton outpaced Scranton 13-7 to stretch their lead out and ensure their 12 point triumph by game's end to capture the coveted tournament title.

Scranton had a hat trick of players score in double figures in the showdown, as junior guard Megan Gatto, sophomore guard Micayla Arzie, and freshman guard Tressie Bender led the way on their club's offensive attack. Gatto tallied a team-high 12 points on 5-11 shooting, went 2-4 from long distance range, grabbed five rebounds, a steal, and a block to boot in her stellar 31-minutes of play. Arzie also scored a solid 12 points, shot 2-5 from beyond the arc, collected six boards, and added an assist for good measure in her 33-minutes on the court. Last but certainly not least, Bender just missed out on an impressive double-double in her collegiate debut with a stellar 11 points and nine rebounds, to go along with an assist while playing in all 40-minutes of the ball game.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats had the dynamic duo of sophomores Aniya Laforest and Angeleny Cobos set the pace offensively, as they each scored in double digits on the day. Laforest scored a game-high 20 points on 8-20 shooting from the floor, went 4-6 from the charity stripe, to go along with her eight boards, and a block in her high quality 36-minutes of action. Cobos put up 11 points on 4-10 shooting, went 2-6 from downtown, collected a pair of rebounds, and an assist in her 28-minutes on the court.

Now rookie interim head coach Alyssa Alfano and her 0-1 Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball team will look to bounce back when they next host Penn State Schuylkill in their crucial conference opener this upcoming Tuesday evening with tip-off time slated for a 6pm start.