NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. – Falling behind 17-8 in the second quarter, Penn State New Kensington women's basketball faced too much of a deficit on Wednesday against Penn State Fayette, although the remaining quarters were neck and neck. New Kensington faced a 62-53 loss, due to the tough end of the first half.
After this contest, New Kensington gets pushed back to 1-12 in conference play and 2-18 overall. Fayette gets to advance to 9-4 in the conference and 14-6 overall.
New Kensington took the lead right away in the first quarter, but Fayette played back to tie up the scores. Fayette then took command of the quarter, holding New Kensington at six, while it went on a six-point run. With three minutes remaining, New Kensington put up seven points to end the time ahead of Fayette, 13-12.
During the second quarter, Fayette broke away from this one possession game at 2:12 with a three-pointer from Carissa Cyphert. Fayette's three-point attempts (4-9) set them apart from New Kensington (0-5) and allowed it to gain the 29-21 lead at halftime.
New Kensington was able to pace with Fayette in the third as both teams hit 16 points. Fayette shot in 6 of 21 field goals, while New Kensington hit 5 of 13. Kierra Rose (Uniontown, Pa./ Uniontown Area) contributed a majority of New Kensington's points, eight, while landing almost all of its field goals. Although the quarter was tied, it still kept New Kensington behind, 45-37, before heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter proved to be just as consistent as the third, with New Kensington and Fayette bouncing back between scores. Each team landed six field goals, and Deshaya Chavis (Penn Hills, Pa./ Penn Hills) put up seven points for New Kensington to keep the pace.
Rose totaled up 15 points to lead the way for New Kensington, while also adding five steals. Chavis hit 11 points and led with seven assists. Also with 11 points, Josalind Dennison (Beaver Falls, Pa./ Beaver Falls) had a season high of 19 rebounds.
Dae-Lin Burnsworth was Fayette's top scorer with 16 points. Brook Poling followed with 13, and Taylor McCormick and Kaitlyn Riley tied with 11 points. McCormick led with seven assists, and Riley grabbed 13 rebounds.
New Kensington will travel to Penn State Beaver on Friday for a conference matchup at 7 p.m., meanwhile Fayette will host Penn State Mont Alto on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Written by Janet Surma
