Scranton Lady Lions Fall to Lehigh Valley

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a Tuesday night in the electric city, the Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad dropped a 74-19 home conference battle with Penn State Lehigh Valley. This was Scranton's second loss of the season to Lehigh Valley, as back on January 21st they lost at home 111-18. With this defeat, Scranton sees their overall record go to 0-20 and 0-17 in the all-important league play schedule with only two games remaining this year, both at home, against conference foes Penn State Wilkes-Barre and Brandywine. On a positive note, this was Scranton's annual Pink Zone game they hosted to help raise money to benefit PA Pink Zone for families affected by breast cancer.

The road warriors from Lehigh Valley sprinted out to an early big advantage and never looked back, as they outscored Scranton 27-6 in the first quarter, 20-2 in the second, 14-1 in the third, and in the fourth and final frame 13-10, as they cruised to their dominant 55 point triumph by the game's final whistle.

On the Scranton offensive side of things, they were held with no double figure scorers in the contest, however, stand-out freshman guard Megan Gatto and senior team-captain Sam Collins set the pace for their ball club. Gatto scored a team-high seven points, to go along with her eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a three pointer to boot while playing the entire 40 minutes of the ball game. Collins was solid as well with a team-high nine boards and five blocks on the defensive side of the ball, to go along with six points while playing the entire 40 minutes on the court.

Meanwhile for the Lehigh Valley offense, they had two players score in double digits, as the dynamic duo of sophomore Chanelle Lee and senior forward Sage Christopher led the way. Lee put up a game-high 19 points on a red hot 8-12 shooting from the field, and just missed out on a double-double with her nine rebounds in her stellar 29 minutes on the floor. Last but certainly not least, Christopher tallied 10 points on a quality 5-7 shooting from the field, to go along with her four boards, two assists, and a block in her stalwart 30 minutes of game action.

Now head coach Tom McIntyre and his Penn State Scranton Lady Lions basketball squad will look to bounce back and capture their first win of the season when they next host local conference rival Penn State Wilkes-Barre this upcoming Saturday afternoon, with tip-off scheduled for 3pm. Scranton will be looking to avenge an early season loss to Wilkes-Barre, as back on December 3rd they lost on the road to them 71-34. Meanwhile, head coach Lorie Khalil and her Penn State Lehigh Valley ball club, who with this Valentine's Day victory over Scranton see their overall record improve to a dominant 18-4 and a robust 14-2 in the crucial league play with only three regular season contests remaining, will look to continue their winning ways when they next go on the road to face off against conference foe Penn State York this Saturday afternoon at 1pm.