Lady Knights impress early, overwhelmed late in home opener

By Blake Myers

Knightly News Reporter

blake.myers@mymail.centralpenn.edu

The Central Penn College Lady Knights dropped a tough contest on Tuesday in their home opener, falling to Penn State–York by a score of 77–61.

The Knights, coming off a decisive victory in the Penn State–Scranton Tip-Off Tournament last weekend, entered the game with high hopes. Penn State–York was also playing well, defeating each of their first two opponents by over 35 points per game.

Early in the game, Penn State-York set the tone as they started on a quick 6-0 run, to which the Knights responded with a 7-0 run of their own, capped off by a three-point play by Central Penn guard Briel Herbert.

The Lady Knights would go on to control the first quarter of play with stellar defense, forcing eight turnovers and creating opportunities on offense, making the score 18-11 after the first quarter.

To start the second quarter, the Nittany Lions came out firing on all cylinders, going on a quick 8-0 run and taking the lead 19-18 over the Knights. Central Penn would then fire back midway through the second quarter, with Knights guard Cayla Thomas drilling a deep three-point basket to give the Knights the lead.

Throughout the second quarter, the two teams had a seesaw battle as they traded scores constantly. In the last two minutes of the first half, the Penn State-York defense stood tall, creating multiple turnovers that led to a 5-0 run, and went into the half with a lead of 44-35.

Penn State-York would pick up right where they left off by extending their lead to 11, leading 50-39 early in the third quarter. Midway through the third quarter, the Nittany Lions would continue to grow their lead to 63-44. Central Penn would then find themselves behind by the score of 67-58 going into the last quarter of play. While earlier in the game, the Knights had some luck on their side, none of the breaks were falling their way in the second half.

Penn State would then create a 73-50 lead, the game’s largest lead. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Knights would start to trade baskets as they battled to cut the lead to 16 after a big layup from Central Penn center Allison Yoder. Late in the game, the Nittany Lions maintained their lead and took the game by the final score of 77-61.

The story of the game for Penn State-York was senior Jayla Brown, scoring a game-high 22 points, adding four rebounds and four steals. Senior Desi Garcia-Hernandez also chipped in with 17 points and four assists in the victory.

For the Lady Knights, Briel Herbert was named the Knightly News Player of the Game with 17 points and six rebounds in only 23 minutes. Center Allison Yoder added 12 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort.

With the loss, Central Penn falls to 3-1, with Penn State York staying undefeated at 3-0 on the young season.

The Lady Knights travel to Clarks Summit on Saturday for their next contest. They will return home next Tuesday for the first game of a doubleheader with the men’s team against Penn State-Lehigh Valley.