WASHINGTON – The Gallaudet University women's basketball team fell to Penn St.-Harrisburg 59-40 Wednesday night in a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) game at the Field House, breaking the Bison's longest win streak of the season.

Gallaudet (5-16, 3-11 NEAC South) started off strong in the first half against Penn St.-Harrisburg (15-6, 11-3 NEAC South), currently in second place of the NEAC South division, as the Bison led for the final 16 minutes before halftime where the Bison led 25-21.

The Nittany Lions took over the game in the second half as they grabbed the lead just over five minutes into the second half and gradually pulled away from the Bison. Penn St.-Harrisburg used a 13-0 to take a 40-29 lead with 11:06 left in regulation. The margin grew to over 20 points in the final minutes.

Senior forward Lindsay Stergio (Montville, Conn.) led Gallaudet as she racked up 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Elena Ciccarelli (Whitesboro, N.Y.) had seven points, seven rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Claire Tucker (Middletown, Md.) scored four points, had seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. Junior guard Stephanie Weiss (Wellington, Fla.) finished with five points, six rebounds and two steals while sophomore Alexa Justus (Forks, Wash.) added six points in the loss to snap Gallaudet's three-game winning streak.

Mercedes Copeland led Penn St.-Harrisburg with 17 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Kiara Carter had a double-double scoring 11 points, 13 rebounds to go with two blocks.

Gallaudet will face conference foe College of Saint Elizabeth (8-12, 6-8 NEAC South) in Morristown, N.J., on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 1 p.m.