PSUD Women Knock-Off USCAA #3 Villa Maria

The Penn State DuBois Women's basketball team stepped up their level of play Tuesday night as they faced the #3 ranked team in the USCAA, Villa Maria College from Buffalo, NY.  DuBois entered the game ranked #11 in the latest USCAA National Coaches Poll.  At the end of the night, the Lady Lions (12-5) pulled off an upset by the score of 79-74 against a very talented and athletic Villa Maria (15-4) squad.  Villa entered the game on an eight game win streak with their last loss coming in early December.

Four players hit for double figures scoring lead by Hope Bridge's (Punxsutawney) 19 points.  Melody Young (Otto-Eldred) collected a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Joining them in double figures were Grace Earle (Cowanesque Valley) 14 points and Gracie Hamilton (Northern Potter) 10 points.  Lauren Young (Bellefonte) hauled in a game high 14 rebounds.

PSUD coach Pat Lewis said, "We played at a high-level tonight.  Every one of our players played extremely well against a quality opponent.  Kristen Williams (Eisenhower), Cierra O'Shell (Glendale), and Grace Earle all hit three's when we needed them every time Villa would get on a run."  "Morgan Silvis (Forest Area) and Laura Fatula (DuBois HS) both moved and distributed the ball to the open players.  Alyssa McKeithan (East Stroudsburg) gave us quality minutes off the bench," he added.  PSUD controlled the boards as they outrebounded Villa 57-39 in the contest.

DuBois returns to action with PSUAC conference games at home on Friday and Saturday against Penn State Hazelton and Penn State Schuylkill.  Friday's game has a 6:00 start and Saturday's tip-off is at 1:00.