WASHINGTON – The Gallaudet University women's basketball team was back in action Sunday at home as it defeated North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) rival Penn St.-Berks, 53-45.

The Bison (10-8, 9-5 NEAC) were ready to play after coming off a tough loss yesterday to conference leader Lancaster Bible College. The Nittany Lions (1-15, 1-11 NEAC) also showed up prepared, building off the excitement of their first win the day before. Penn St.-Berks kept pace with the Bison most of the game as the two team battled throughout. GU took a 28-27 lead into the half.

In the second half, GU built a 10-point lead, 40-30, midway through the final 20 minutes of play. The Nittany Lions managed to cut into the deficit some but three-pointers from junior guard Danielle Warren (San Jose, Calif.) and senior guard Alexa Justus (Forks, Wash.) helped to secure the win for the buff and blue.

Warren led the offense with 11 points as she scored nine of them in the second half and had two assists. Freshman guard Sabina Shysh (Tucson, Ariz.) scored eight points followed by Justus and senior forward Lane Peters (Phoenix, Ariz.), who had seven points each. Peters grabbed 11 rebounds, made three blocks and two steals. Fellow senior forward Elena Ciccarelli (Whitesboro, N.Y.) had a game-high 13 rebounds and two assists. Junior forward Danielle Morris (St. Louis, Mich.) collected seven boards coming off the bench. Freshman Kori Koss (Green Bay, Wis.) had a game best four assists to go with six points, two rebounds and two assists.

The Nittany Lions were paced by Shanelle Koch's 15 points and seven rebounds and Jaslyn Silva's 12 points.

GU outrebounded Penn St.-Berks, 56-37, and held a 32-10 edge in the paint while the Bison bench contributed 21 points. The Bison have won four straight over Berks and hold a 7-2 series lead since Gallaudet joined the NEAC in 2010-11.

Gallaudet women's basketball team will be off until Saturday, Feb. 7, when they host Keuka College (3-11, 3-7 NEAC) at 1 p.m.