New Ken trails; Beaver stays undefeated

MONACA, Pa. – Facing off with the undefeated (PSUAC) Penn State Beaver in Friday's women's basketball contest, Penn State New Kensington was unable to defeat Beaver's winning streak, taking the 82-43 loss.

New Kensington will fall to 1-13 in the PSUAC and 2-19 overall after trailing behind. Staying undefeated, Beaver improves to 15-0 in conference play and 19-3 overall.

At 8:00 in the first quarter, Beaver jumped ahead of New Kensington and never lost command. Going on various six-point runs, Beaver held New Kensington to single digits, while it added up 20 to gain a 12-point lead at the end of the first. Beaver attempted 9 of 27 field goals, which put it above New Kensington who only landed 3 of 12.

Diamond Thomas and Alexis Cross led Beaver with six points each during the second half, scoring back to back for seven points. By 3:39, Beaver was up 40-13, and after two free throws on behalf of Thomas, it ended the half up 47-24.

New Kensington managed to sink two three-pointers during the third quarter, compared to no attempts to Beaver, but Beaver's field goal tries allowed it to outscore New Kensington once again. Mikayla Womer hit 10 points, which aided Beaver in improving the score to 68-37.

With 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Kierra Rose (Uniontown, Pa./ Uniontown Area) put up a layup to begin New Kensington's scoring. Rose was able to add a free throw to the board, while Shaylynne Boitnott (Meadville, Pa./ Meadville) was the only other player to put up numbers for New Kensington. New Kensington only hit two field goals, while Beaver made six.

Rose was New Kensington's leading scorer with 18 points. Deshaya Chavis followed with 15 and had the only assists for the team, two. Josalind Dennison (Beaver Falls, Pa./ Beaver Falls) took 13 rebounds, and Auveonna Perkins (Arnold, Pa./ Valley) added 10. Ryliegh Beck (Saegertown, Pa./ Maplewood) had four steals.

Beaver had four players reaching double digits, with Thomas hitting the top score of 18 points. Womer was next with 14, while Cheyenne Lopez and Cross each posted 12. Cross had three assists, and tied for most rebounds, six, along with Thomas, Lopez, Jimya Chambers, Amaya Wright, and Libby Thomas.

New Kensington will take the trip to Penn State Mont Alto on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game. Beaver will faceoff with Penn State Greater Allegheny for its next contest on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.

Written by Janet Surma