Hartley Powers Women to Season-Opening Win

McKeesport, PA. – It was a hot start for the Penn State Greater Allegheny Women’s Basketball team (1-0, 0-0) on Monday night as they scored 20 first quarter points on their way to a 73-34 win over Butler County Community College (0-1, 0-0).   PSUGA kept their foot on the gas pedal throughout the night as every player in uniform contributed in the win.

It was senior Teaira Hartley (East Stroudsburg, PA./East Stroudsburg North HS) who got the offense started, scoring nine points in the first three and a half minutes of the game to help her team take a 9-1 lead. After Butler County CC got back on the board, PSUGA would put together another 7-0 run and lead 16-3 with 4:33 left in the first quarter.  The women held off the Pioneers to lead 20-6 by quarter’s end.

Hartley continued her roll into the second half and added eight points to her total.  Her team went into halftime ahead 36-17. The third quarter saw Butler County Community College come out scoring seven of the first nine points to cut the deficit to 38-24 with 6:16 remaining in the third quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, PSUGA fought back scoring 10 points to Butler County Community College’s five.  PSUGA went into the fourth with a 48-29 lead.  

The women finished their highest scoring quarter of the night, putting up 25 points to finish out a 73 point attack. Hartley led the way with 10 points over the final ten minutes while Majesty Alford (Pittsburgh, PA./East Allegheny HS) added eight of her own to cap off the victory.

Hartley finished the day with a career-high 27 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and one assist for her first double-double of the year. Alex Hall (Washington, D.C./Bell HS) led the defense with a career-high 15 rebounds while Da’Neisha Williams (Pittsburgh, PA./Carrick HS) added eight rebounds and a team-high eight assists in the win.

PSUGA gets off to a 1-0 start for the second year in a row after defeating Butler County Community College. PSUGA looks to build off tonight’s strong performance and hopes it propels them to a second straight Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) playoff spot.

The PSUGA Women’s Basketball team is back in action on Thursday when they host Carlow in non-conference action. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.