Scranton Lady Lions Drop Road Contest to Du Bois

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a Sunday Fun-day road matinee, after a long 36 day layoff since their last game, the Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad fell to conference foe Penn State Du Bois 84-36 in their first contest of the new calendar year. With the defeat, Scranton now sees their overall record go to 0-11 and 0-8 in the all-important league play.

Du Bois got off to a quick start and never looked back, as they outscored Scranton 21-5 in the first quarter, 24-14 in the second, 25-5 in the third, and 14-12 in the fourth and final frame, as they secured a dominant 48 point triumph by the game's final buzzer.

The road warriors from Scranton had one player score in double figures in the matchup, as freshman Jasmine Bender led the way on the offensive attack. Bender scored a team-high 12 points, all of them coming from three point land where she connected on four shots from beyond the arc, in her stellar 28 minutes on the floor, providing a nice spark coming off the bench for her ball club. Honorable mention also goes to Megan Gatto, Emily Cron, and senior team captain Sam Collins. Gatto just missed out on a double-double, with her nine points and team-high 11 rebounds, to go along with her four steals, two assists, and two blocks. Cron also notched a team-high 11 boards, to go along with her four points. Last but certainly not least, Collins had a solid game, putting up seven points, six blocks, five rebounds, three assists, and a steal in a quality 38 minutes on the court.

Meanwhile on the Du Bois side of things, they had all of their five starting players put up double digit scoring performances, as sophomore Shannon Shaw, freshman Frances Milliron, fellow freshman Sarah Huston, sophomore forward Tara Leamer, and fellow sophomore Megan Durandetta set the pace. Shaw scored a game-high 22 points, 18 of which coming from downtown while sinking 6-13 shots from three point land, to go along with her six rebounds, five assists, and two steals in her 28 stalwart minutes of action.  Milliron put up 17 points, six assists, four boards, and a steal to boot. Huston tallied 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists on the day. Leamer notched a double-double with her 12 points and team-high 11 boards, to go along with her three steals, two assists, and one block. Finally, Durandetta had 10 points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in her 19 minutes of play.

Now head coach Tom McIntyre and his Penn State Scranton Lady Lions will look to capture their first win of the basketball season in a Martin Luther King Day road matinee on Monday afternoon against conference foe Penn State Greater Allegheny, with tip-off scheduled for 1pm. Meanwhile, head coach Pat Lewis and his Penn State Du Bois squad, who with their win over Scranton sees their overall record improve to 5-8 and 3-6 in league play, will look to push their winning streak to three straight games when they next host conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Monday evening at 5pm.