Lady Roaring Lions flat in 71-52 loss to Point Park
Holly Tonini
Point Park’s Brittany Dunmire (12) and April Austin are able to stop the Lady Roaring Lions’ Caitlin Wontroba as she attempts during Saturday’s game at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
The Lady Roaring Lions' Jill Guthrie is the first to score during Saturday's game against Point Park at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
The Lady Roaring Lions' Kasey Ruble (11) is stopped by Point Park's Brittany Dunmire during Saturday's game at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Fresh off a big conference win over Penn State Beaver on Thursday, the women’s basketball team at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus fell to Point Park, 71-52, on Saturday.
The Lady Roaring Lions were flat in the first half when they were outscored 50-19, but came out battling n the second half and outscored the Lady Pioneers, 33-19.
The fifth-ranked Division II team in the NAIA, Point Park (8-2, 2-1) used three runs of 11 points to build first half leads of 11-2, 22-4, and 33-6.
Emily Schartner sank three 3-point baskets in the opening minutes to set the tone for the game. Fayette was unable to put consecutive points together until Kasey Ruble and Caitlin Wontroba scored baskets to cut the lead to 35-10.
Ruble, Wontroba, and Jill Guthrie were the only Fayette players to score in the first half.
But after point Park scored the first eight points of the second half, the Lady Roaring Lions went on a 9-2 run that included a basket by Guthrie, a 3-point basket by Carly Gruss, and a pair of baskets by Shannon Flament.
Later in the half, Fayette strung together nine points on a Flament trey and six consecutive free throws by Wontroba that cut the lead to 65-41.
Guthrie scored six of her team-high 14 points down the stretch and Wontroba finished with 13 points that included eight-for-eight from the free throw line.
Schartner led Point Park with 14 points, Haley Sauer scored 12, and April Austin added 11.
Fayette coach Kurt Mattern praised his team for its effort in the final 20 minutes, saying “We played a lot better defensively. We were so out of gas from Thursday night (a 93-75 conference win over Penn State Beaver) that we had nothing left tonight. But we showed the heart we have.
“You hate to lose but I’ll take losing to the fifth-ranked Division II team in the NAIA by 19 points. Our bench played well and we got 10 players in the game who provided continuity. It’s what we’ll need to do all year.”
The Lady Roaring Lions have a three-week break before they begin a string of three consecutive non-conference games when they host Rochester College on Jan. 6.
“We need time to heal because we’re still banged up from Thursday,” Mattern said.