New Kensington Runs Out of Gas Late, Falls to 1st Place PSU Beaver 

New Kensington, PA- The Lady Lions welcomed 1st place Penn State Beaver to the athletic center last night for a PSUAC West showdown. 

New Kensington, playing shorthanded as always, came out strong to start the game, taking a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Lions continued to lock in on the defensive end, holding Beaver to just 27% shooting in the first half on their way to a 25-19 lead at the break. 

Beaver got things going in the second half, but the Lady Lions were able to weather the storm and finish the 3rd quarter on a 5-0 run to tie things back up at 44-44 entering the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, attrition set in and Beaver exploded over the next 10 minutes, shooting 67% and turning New Kensington over seven times on their way to a 79-58 victory. 

The Lady Lions had three players finish in double digits, with sohomore point guard Destiny Batiste (Thibodaux, La) scoring 21 points on 7-17 shooting to lead the way. Fellow freshmabn guard Najah Perryman (Woodbridge, Va) chipped in 17 points and four rebounds, while freshman forward Esther Cole (Brooklyn, NY) notched another double-double with 10 points and 14 boards of her own. 

New Kensington will look to finish strong as they welcome Penn State Shenango to the athletic center this Saturday, February 18th for another conference matchup. 

Stay tuned at PSNKathletics.com.