WASHINGTON – A strong second half played by the Gallaudet University women's basketball team here Thursday night lifted the Bison past Penn St.-Abington, who entered the game undefeated in United East conference play.

Gallaudet (8-8, 5-2 United East) outscored Penn St.-Abington (10-4, 6-1 United East) by 16 points, 41-25, over the course of the final 20 minutes of play to complete a comeback and win, 66-57, in the Field House.

The Bison scored the first seven points of the third quarter to tie the game at 32 apiece. The Nittany Lions led by as much as nine points in the second quarter and took a 32-25 lead into halftime.

GU held a 15-5 edge in points scored in the decisive third quarter. The Bison netted the first seven points of the third quarter and the final eight points.

Gallaudet added to its 40-37 lead to begin the fourth quarter with two baskets before the Nittany Lions stopped the 12-0 run.

Penn St.-Abington pulled to within three points, 47-44, at the 6:06 mark in the fourth before GU scored seven straight points behind back-to-back 3-pointers from senior guards Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) and Sunita Schmidjorg (Austin, Texas).

The Bison reached their largest lead of 11 points, 56-45, after two Schmidjorg free throws in the final minutes. The remainder of the game was played out on the free-throw line.

The Nittany Lions controlled the first two quarters as they scored 16 points in each 10-minute frame.

Sophomore guard Cam Lexow (Abington, Pa.) turned in another complete game with a team-high 16 points and made a game-high seven assists and five blocks. Lexow grabbed nine rebounds and made three steals in 34 minutes of action.

Salit scored 12 points off the bench as she made 2-of-4 shots from 3-point range and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the free-throw line.

Senior guard Raj Guettler (Frederick, Md.) recorded a double-double with 10 points and a team best 11 rebounds. Guettler added five assists and three steals.

Junior center Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.) snatched 10 boards, scored nine points and made three blocks.

Gallaudet shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half (12 for 21) after it started the game 11 for 31 (35.5 percent). The Bison increased their win streak to five games as the buff and blue won their third straight home contest.

Penn St.-Abington was paced by sophomore Amirah Hackney, who scored a career-high 28 points and snagged 11 rebounds. Junior guard Nia Newman was active on the offensive glass with 11 rebounds and finished the game with 13 total to go with eight points, three steals and two assists in the loss.

This game started a stretch where the Bison will play seven of 10 games against United East teams that are above them in the conference standings. This stretch will determine GU's season and where it could possibly end up in the playoff picture.

BISON TRACKS

• Schmidjorg finished with seven points, two rebounds and two assists
• Senior guard Claire Ruiz-Tucker (Middletown, Md.) passed out six assists
• Nine different Bison players scored two or more points
• GU shot 81 percent (17-of-21) from the free-throw line
• The Bison scored 28 points in the paint
• Gallaudet's four reserve players combined to score 23 points
• The game featured two ties and one lead change
• GU is not 19-10 against Penn St.-Abington dating back to the 2010-11 season
• The Bison are 11-4 in the Field House when they host Penn St.-Abington

UP NEXT
GU remains at home and will go up against Bryn Athyn College (13-3, 6-1 United East) this Saturday, Jan. 18, at 1 p.m. on Padden Court in the Field House.