Lions Clipped By Hazleton In Key Conference Battle

HAZLETON, Pennsylvania -- After winning its first 10 conference contests, Penn State Brandywine dropped its second-straight game, falling 63-61 at Penn State Hazleton on Saturday in a key PSUAC women's basketball game.

Brandywine (15-7, 10-2) and Hazleton (17-3, 11-2) are two of four teams with two losses entering the final week of conference play. Brandywine will hosts Scranton on Sunday (1:00 pm) and travel to Schuylkill Tuesday night, while Hazleton, Beaver and Lehigh Valley all have just one PSUAC game remaining.

Olivia Encarnacion (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) paced the Lions with 21 points and eight rebounds. Stacey MacArthur (Newtown Square, Pa./Delco Christian) added 10 points, while Cashae Hinton (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) recorded six points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Deidra Ciavaralla capped a 9-3 Hazleton spurt that gave the hosts their largest lead of the game at nine points midway through the first half. Brandywine battled back as Lauren Munro (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) scored six-straight points and Encarnacion converted a layup to bring Brandywine within one.

MacArthur knotted the score at 27-27 with a three-pointer at the 3:57 mark and Melanie Kempf's (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) jumper just before the halftime buzzer gave Brandywine a 29-28 lead after 20 minutes.

Neither team led by more than four points during the second half, which featured eight ties.

One minute later, Encarnacion's lay in helped Brandywine retake the lead at 61-60; however, Alexis Daly answered with a bucket during Hazleton's ensuing possession. Daly added a free throw with 1:18 to play to give Hazleton a 63-61 edge.

Hazleton missed all three of its attempts from the charity stripe during the final 78 seconds, but Brandywine was unable to connect on the offensive end, missing three potentially game-tying shots and Hazleton held on for the two-point win.

Brandywine shot 41 percent from the field, while Hazleton connected on 39 percent of its shots. Hazleton held a 53-38 edge on the glass and converted 24 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.

Daly poured in 20 points and grabbed 12 boards for Hazleton and Taylor Cannon added 16 points and 12 rebounds.