WASHINGTON – A special weekend for the Gallaudet University women's basketball program ended with an exclamation point as the 2023-24 Bison defeated Penn St.-Abington, 76-66, here Saturday on Padden Court before a crowd of 347 in the Field House.
In attendance, included Gallaudet's most successful women's basketball team in the school's history as the 1998-99 team, who advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament third round (Sweet 16), was on hand to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
Gallaudet (14-8, 7-2 United East) bounced back with the conference win against Penn St.-Abington (9-13, 5-4 United East) to sweep the season series.
The Bison trailed in the opening minutes but quickly regrouped and took over the lead as the buff and blue used an 11-2 run to distance themselves from the visitors. GU led 22-17 after the first quarter and took a 44-29 lead into halftime after an amazing second quarter of shooting (11 of 15, 73.3 percent).
The two teams recorded 16 points each in the third before Gallaudet outscored Penn St.-Abington, 21-16 in the fourth.
Senior forward
Cassidy Perry (Frederick, Md.), who was recognized during the pre-game for recording her 1,000thh career rebound in the previous game, finished with a game-high 28 points and added to that rebound mark with nine boards. Perry made a game-high four blocks, passed out four assists and made three steals.
Senior guard
Rajena Guettler (Frederick, Md.) finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and first-year forward
Cam Lexow (Abington, Pa.) chipped in 11 points, four boards, four assists and two steals. Junior guard
Claire Ruiz-Tucker (Frederick, Md.) came off the bench to net 10 points and pass out six assists, four steals and four rebounds.
The Nittany Lions were led by Amirah Hackney, who matched Perry with 28 points to go with four rebounds, four steals and four assists. Angela Sanders had a strong first half as she scored 14 of her 22 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Sanders led Penn St.-Abington with seven rebounds and tallied three steals and two assists.
During halftime, the 1998-99 Gallaudet women's basketball team (24-6) was recognized before the assembled crowd. The team had a special team banquet on Friday night, and they got to have a mini practice on Saturday morning on Padden Court.
The Bison also welcomed the University of Virginia American Sign Language classes to the Field House for the women's basketball game. Lexow, a UVA graduate, learned ASL while she was an undergraduate women's soccer student-athlete in Charlottesville, Va., before transferring to Gallaudet.
BISON TRACKS
- First-year guard Seanna Baird (Indianapolis, Ind.) recorded seven points
- Sophomore guard Olivia Brown (Miami, Fla.) added four points, four rebounds
- Junior guard Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) chipped in three points, two assists
- Three other Bison recorded minutes in the win
- Gallaudet shot a season-high 54.7 percent from the field
- GU scored 30 points in the paint
- The Bison netted 21 points off 25 Nittany Lion turnovers
UP NEXT
Gallaudet will travel to St. Mary's College of Maryland (13-8, 6-3 United East) this Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. for a United East game. GU won the first matchup 87-82 last month (Jan. 13) at home.
