WASHINGTON - Gallaudet University women's basketball bounced back here Friday night in the Field House with an resounding 79-25 United East Conference victory over Penn St.-Berks to clinch the regular-season championship.

Gallaudet (15-8, 13-3 United East) will be the top seed in next weekend's United East tournament that will be hosted in the Field House on Feb. 25-26. 

GU used a 28-0 run from the first quarter into the second to take a 28-2 lead over the winless Nittany Lions (0-22, 0-15 United East). Gallaudet led 36-10 at the half and outscored the visitors 43-15 in the second half.

Prior to the start of the game, the Gallaudet women's basketball program recognized their seniors from last year and this season on Senior Night. The Bison celebrated Kendall Hudson and Fatuma Ali from last year's team along with student-assistant Abby Barker and senior guard Emelia Beldon (Frederick, Md.) from this year's team. The seniors were surrounded by their coaches, teammates, family and friends as Bison Nation looked on. 

Gallaudet received many contributions from its eight players in uniform as every player logged 12 or more minutes and scored four or more points. Three different Bison finished the game in double figures. Sophomore forward Malia Zornoza (Riverside, Calif.) led the way with 20 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. Fellow sophomore forward Cassidy Perry (Frederick, Md.) tallied 12 points and 15 rebounds for her 14th double-double this season. Perry added five assists and made a game-high three blocks. Freshman forward Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 10 points and grabbed five boards off the bench. Beldon finished with eight points, nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists as she played all 40 minutes.

BISON TRACKS

• Freshman guard Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) poured in nine points, three steals and assists and two boards
• Sophomore guard Sunita Schmidjorg (Austin, Texas) finished with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals
• Freshman guard Shayla Rochette (Worcester, Mass.) scored eight points, three rebounds, three steals and two steals
• Sophomore forward Serenity Fry (East Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with four points and three boards
• GU scored 64 points in the paint
• The Bison bench totaled 22 points
• Gallaudet scored 24 points off of 27 turnovers by the Nittany Lions
• GU scored 19 second-chance points

UP NEXT
Gallaudet will await the official release of the United East tournament field, more details will be posted and shared once they are known.