By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto women's basketball team looked poised for a victory on Friday night, but just fell short to PSU DuBois with the visitors pulling away in the fourth quarter in the 81-67 win.
Mont Alto (1-8, 0-7 PSUAC) came out in a full court press, which Penn State DuBois struggled cracking as PSUMA ran out to a 13-4 lead with 4:01 left in the first quarter. The home team continued to play outstanding defense, which led to easy buckets as they went on a 8-5 run to take a 21-9 lead after Kyah Rucker (Harrisburg, Pa. / Susquehanna Township) nailed a jumper in the paint.
Hot shooting continued for Mont Alto into the second quarter with them scoring the first five points of the period, which included a Kara Newell (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippenburg) 3-pointer. After PSUMA led 29-18, the visitors went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 29-25 on a Allison Easton jump shot. The conference opponents essentially traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter until Mont Alto scored the last four points including a Mariah Martin (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) layup with under two seconds remaining that made it 42-34.
Madison Bishop (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) had a productive first half with seven points and nine rebounds. PSU Dubois scored the first seven of the 3rd quarter and forced a Mont Alto timeout with score at 42-41 with 8:03 left. The teams once again traded baskets for the rest of the quarter.
Mont Alto rallied back to within 62-67 after they had given up the lead in the final period with 3:25 left. Down the stretch, PSUMA went ice cold from the field and DuBois executed for the final of 81-67. DuBois's depth wore on the home team in the second half as they were outscored 22-12 in the fourth quarter.
The visitors had three different double digit scorers and were led by Malliah Schreck. For Mont Alto, they were led by Mariah Martin (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) who poured 20 and had 14 rebounds. Bishop also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Penn State Mont Alto will return to action after the holiday break on Wednesday, January 8th in a road matchup with Central Penn College. Tip-off is slated for 8:30 p.m.
