ABINGTON, Pa. – The third-seeded Gallaudet University women's basketball team followed the script here Tuesday night to defeat No. 2 seed Penn St.-Abington, 95-85, in the semifinal round of the United East tournament.
It was the third time the Bison defeated Penn St.-Abington this season and the game felt much like the previous game on the same court less than two weeks ago.
Gallaudet (17-10) raced out to a big lead in the first half before Penn St.-Abington (18-8) crawled its way back in the second half. In both cases, the Bison held on to secure the road victory.
"What a great game! Huge props to Penn St.-Abington coach Tiara White and her team for an amazing trilogy this season. Their intensity and passion for the sport reminded us all why we love the game," said Gallaudet women's basketball coach
Stephanie Stevens. "Our Bison team fought hard, that early lead really helped us clinch the game. I am so proud of this team and can't wait for another great game in the championship round."
GU advances to the championship game where it will face No. 1 seed St. Mary's College of Maryland this Saturday, March 1, at 1 p.m. on the road. The Seahawks defeated No. 5 seed Bryn Athyn College, 54-46, in the other semifinal on Tuesday night.
The Bison shot 50 percent or better from the field in all four quarters. GU finished the game 32 for 57 (56.1 percent) the second-highest field goal percentage this season. The Bison drained a season-high seven 3-pointers and made 24-of-31 free-throw attempts (77.4 percent). The free throws made (24) and attempts (31) are season highs.
Gallaudet had six players in double figures for points as every starter scored 10 or more points. The Bison also had four starters concluded the game with 10 or more rebounds as four double doubles were recorded.
Senior guard
Claire Ruiz-Tucker (Middletown, Md.) and senior center
Alexis Roberts (Newton, Miss.) led the way with 16 points each. Roberts completed the double-double with 10 rebounds and was clutch at the free-throw line (6-of-7).
Junior center
Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.) and sophomore guard/forward
Cam Lexow (Abington, Pa.) finished with 14 points each. Puent grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds (eight on the defensive side) while Lexow had 10 boards (nine defensive) and passed out five assists, made three blocks and two steals.
Senior guards
Raj Guettler (Frederick, Md.) and
Sunita Schmidjorg (Austin, Texas) chipped in 10 points each. Guettler completed the double-double with 10 rebounds and passed out a game-high six assists. Schmidjorg led GU's reserves with 10 points and drained a season best three 3-pointers.
First-year forward
Sophia Wascher (Noblesville, Ind.) tallied eight points in 17 minutes while senior guard
Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) made two 3-pointers to finish with seven points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal.
GU led 28-16 after the first quarter and held a 50-35 lead at the half.
Penn St.-Abington got back into the game in the third quarter as the Nittany Lions used an 11-2 run to cut GU's lead down to two points, 63-61, at the 2:53 mark. The run was carried by Kylie Frey, who scored eight of the final 11 points with a layup and back-to-back 3-pointers.
Ruiz-Tucker responded with a 3-pointer and GU made two straight layups to get some breathing room and take a 71-65 lead into the fourth.
GU got the lead back to double digits before Penn St.-Abington got it down to five points, 86-81, after an Amina Reid 3-pointer with 3:44 left in regulation. That was as close as the Nittany Lions got the rest of the game.
Penn St.-Abington guard/forward Amirah Hackney fouled out of the game with 5:45 left in the fourth. Hackney exited with 16 points, six rebounds, five steals and one block.
Reid led all-scorers with a game-high 22 points to go with six steals. Frey finished with 15 points off three 3-pointers to match Hackney from the outside. Penn St.-Abington made 9-of-27 shots from outside (33.3 percent). The Nittany Lions scored 27 points off 27 GU turnovers.
The 95 points scored are the most since GU scored 98 against Penn College on Feb. 16, 2019, on the road.
BISON TRACKS
- GU outrebounded the Nittany Lions, 54-23
- Gallaudet is now 4-3 in the United East/NEAC semifinal round
- The Bison are 2-1 on the road in United East/NEAC playoff games
- GU defeats Penn St.-Abington for the first time in the playoffs
- Gallaudet is 1-2 vs. Penn St.-Abington in the playoffs
- The Bison improve to 21-10 in the series against Penn St.-Abington
UP NEXT
Gallaudet will head south to St. Mary's City, Md., to face the top-seed Seahawks for a third time this season. The two teams split the season series. St. Mary's won, 66-61, in the Field House (Nov. 26) while the Bison won, 61-54, on the road last month (Jan. 22). GU was the only team to hand the Seahawks a conference loss this season.
Gallaudet will be making its fourth appearance in the United East/NEAC championship game. The Bison have never won a United East tournament championship.
The winner of Saturday's championship game will earn the United East's automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship field.
