WASHINGTON – The No. 3 seed Gallaudet University women's basketball team will face No. 2 seed Penn St.-Abington this Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. in the semifinal round of the United East tournament.
This will be the third meeting between the two schools this season. GU swept the season series as the Bison won, 66-57, at home on Jan. 16, and two weeks ago (Feb. 13) on the road, 75-63.
Gallaudet (16-10) and Penn St.-Abington (18-7) have played 30 times since the 2010-11 season. The Bison hold a 20-10 advantage in the all-time series. GU has won two straight against the Nittany Lions and nine of the past 10 contests over the last five seasons.
The two teams have met twice in the postseason with the Nittany Lions winning both meetings. It was Penn St.-Abington that upset Gallaudet last year in the United East - Volt Division semifinal in the Field House by the score of 91-87. GU traveled to Penn St.-Abington during the 2014-15 postseason and lost in the opening round of the North Eastern Athletic Conference to the Nittany Lions, 61-33.
The Bison have a deep team with a strong senior class that has a lot of big-game experience. GU is led by
Cam Lexow (Abington, Pa.) who averages 15.0 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. Lexow leads the United East with 88 steals and 58 blocks. Senior guard
Raj Guettler (Frederick, Md.) is second on the team with 11.8 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game, a team-high mark. Guettler is 24 points away from 1,000 career points. Senior guard
Claire Ruiz-Tucker (Middletown, Md.) joins Guettler in the backcourt and is tied with Lexow for first on the team with 96 assists. Upfront the Bison will lean on junior center
Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.), senior center
Alexis Roberts (Newton, Miss.) and first year
Mackenzie Schirg (Factoryville, Pa.). Senior guard
Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) is a sharpshooter from the outside with a team-high 27 3-pointers.
Penn St.-Abington is led by sophomore guard Amina Reid who leads the team in scoring with 354 points and a 14.2 points per game average along with 138 assists, 85 steals and 55 3-pointers. Sophomore guard/forward Amirah Hackney (13.5 points per game) and junior guard/forward Nia Newman (12.6) are the other double-digit point scorers for the Nittany Lions. Newman averages 10.2 rebounds per game and has totaled 244 for the season (fifth in the United East).
GU lost last year to Penn St.-Abington in the Volt Division semifinal round at home. Penn St.-Abington lost, 86-63, to eventual conference champion Penn St.-Harrisburg in the Volt Division final last season.
The Penn St.-Abington Sports Information Office will be providing a live video stream of Tuesday's semifinal game here:
https://psucampusathletics.com/psuabington/ along with live stats here:
https://abingtonsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary.
The winner of the semifinal game will advance to the championship and face the winner between No. 1 seed St. Mary's College of Maryland (19-7) and No. 5 seed Bryn Athyn College (21-6) on Saturday, March 1, at 1 p.m. at the site of the highest remaining seed.
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