Lady Knights fall to tough Cheyney team on opening night
By Paul Miller
Knightly News Co-Adviser
Photos by Josalyn Cook
Knightly News Photographer
The Central Penn College Lady Knights fell in their home opener on Tuesday to Cheyney University by a score of 76-37 in a contest held at East Pennsboro Middle School in Enola.
This game, part of an “Orange Out” campaign from the Central Penn athletics department, represented the first opening day for the basketball program that took place at home in recent memory.
Head Coach Kasey Hicks was back in the saddle leading the Knights in that position for the first time since 2019. The team welcomes a number of new Lady Knights, with only Cayla Thomas returning from last year’s squad.
Central Penn struggled from the onset against the high-powered Cheyney University offense, falling into a quick 10-0 deficit after lay-ups from Taniyah Finney and Gabby Valentinetti in the first five minutes.
The Lady Knights’ offense got going from there, which featured free throws from Thomas and a lay-up by freshman forward Nadirah Tutler, bringing the score to 17-5 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
But back-to-back turnovers for the Knights led to consecutive baskets from Darielle Weems, extending the lead for Cheyney to 25-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Knights again struggled offensively in the second quarter, allowing a 3-pointer to Saniyah Washington to extend Cheyney’s lead to 32-9.
But the Knights battled back in the second quarter, with baskets from Kayana Chisholm and Icys Carroll to keep pace with Cheyney. This was short-lived, though, as Weems was able to again hit back-to-back layups to extend Cheyney’s halftime lead to 40-18.
The second half saw the Knights struggle from the field, not registering a point for the first 6:30 of the third quarter, allowing Cheyney to go on a 16-0 run and build their lead to an insurmountable 56-18.
Tutler did answer over the remainder of the contest, hitting two baskets in the waning moments of the third quarter, and asserting herself with eight points in the fourth quarter to lead the team in scoring in the second half.
But Cheyney was just too much for the Knights on this evening, continuing to build their lead into the fourth quarter. In the end, Cheyney closed with a 76-37 victory, leaving a sour taste in the mouths of the Central Penn College faithful on opening night.
Finney was virtually unstoppable throughout the contest, scoring 20 points and adding five rebounds, four assists and four steals in 29 minutes of action. Washington added 15 points and three rebounds in the winning effort for Cheyney.
The Weis Knightly News Player of the Game was Tutler, pouring in 18 points with five rebounds and four blocks, cementing herself as one of the key members of the Lady Knights team this season. Chisholm added eight points and six rebounds in the loss.
While the outcome was not what the Knights expected, having a brand-new team will lead to some growing pains until the players have more familiarity with one another. The Central Penn Lady Knights will have nine days to prepare for their next opponent, as they return to East Pennsboro Middle School to take on Penn State Schuylkill on Nov. 13.
The Knightly News Media Club will be broadcasting all of the Central Penn College men’s and women’s home games during the 2025-26 season. You can tune in at https://www.youtube.com/@KnightlyNewsCPC.
On this broadcast, Dr. Paul Miller and Dalton Koller were on the call, with Noah Lopez producing the show.
