Basketball Offensive Leaders Earn PSUGA Athletes of the Week

McKeesport, PA. – The winter sports season has officially kicked off and both of Penn State Greater Allegheny’s basketball teams opened their seasons last week. Senior Teaira Hartley (East Stroudsburg, PA./East Stroudsburg North HS) and junior Koran Fleming (Wilkinsburg, PA./Westinghouse HS) powered their teams’ offenses and earned the PSUGA Female and Male Athlete of the Week Awards.

Hartley has been on fire to start the season putting up back-to-back 25+ point games and leading her team to a 1-1 record. Hartley has been the leading scorer for the women with 53 points in her two games played while sitting second on the team with 19 rebounds and five assists.

Hartley’s best game came in the opener against Butler County Community College when she helped lead her team to a season-opening 73-34 win. She scored a career-high 27 points and picked up her first double-double of the season with ten rebounds. She shot an impressive 65% from the floor (13-20) and hit one three-pointer as she helped her team move to 1-0 for the second year in a row.

Coming off a year where she took home Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) All-Conference and USCAA All-American Awards, Hartley is looking to once again be a leader in her senior season and get PSUGA back to the PSUAC playoffs for the second year in a row.

Fleming has had an equally hot start to the season for the Men’s Basketball team, leading the way with 74 points and sitting tied for the team lead with 11 assists. Fleming has scored 14 or more points in each of his team’s first three games this season.  He has been a big part of the team’s third straight 3-0 start to a season.

Fleming’s breakout game also came in the team’s opener against Butler County Community College in which PSUGA broke the single-game points record, scoring 149 in the win. Fleming put up a career-high 41 points in the game, including nine three-pointers, shooting 65.2% (15-23) from the floor.

After seeing most time as a bench player last season, Fleming is primed to make the transition into the everyday starting five and prove he can be a leader after the departure of PSUGA’s top scorer.

Both teams appeared in the PSUAC playoffs a season ago and are looking to make return appearances at this year’s event. Both teams fell in the first-round with the Women losing to PSU-Fayette 77-70 and the men falling to PSU-Shenango 64-61. PSUAC play opens on Tuesday, November 19^th and both teams want a hot start before the first-semester break.

The Women’s Basketball team is back in action on Tuesday when they take on Point Park at 7 p.m.  Both teams hit the road on Saturday to face Villa Maria with the women tipping off at 2 p.m. followed by the men at 4 p.m.