The Shippensburg University women’s basketball team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play with a double-digit win over Seton Hill University (77–67) in a back-and-forth contest.
After falling in a tightly-contested matchup with No. 12-ranked University of the Sciences at home on Wednesday, SU (3-3, 1-0 PSAC) came back strong, as the Raiders and Seton Hill (3-2, 0-1 PSAC) each went on a bundle of large runs throughout the game.
The game featured 99 rebounds combined between the two teams, as well as 41 points from turnovers.
The Raiders led by 11 in the third quarter, but without warning, Seton Hill mounted a furious 19–6 run to take a 46-44 lead.
SU answered back with a run of its own, ripping off 15 unanswered points on the way to a 59–46 advantage with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter.
The Griffins would not go away, however, as they unleashed a 13–1 run in under three minutes to make it a one-point game.
SU finally put the Griffins away with a late 9–0 run in the final two minutes, with eight of the nine points belonging to sophomore phenom Ariel Jones.
Freshman Aunbrielle Green followed up her previous 21-point and 13-rebound outing with a similar stat line of 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Fellow freshman Lauren Mills posted a career-high 16 points, scoring 12 points early on in the first quarter.
Jones paced the Raiders with yet another 20-plus outing, this time contributing 22 points while shooting 8-of-14 from the field in only 23 minutes of action. Junior Gianna Locker brought energy off the bench, scoring five points and dishing out two assists.
Freshman Lauren Pettis posted just seven points, but snagged a career-high 18 rebounds, the most by an SU women’s basketball player in a game since Nov. 13, 2015.
Lauren Pettis was a force on the boards against UPJ and Seton Hill, grabbing a career-high 18 against the Griffins and another 16 against the Mountain Cats.
Pettis is having a good rookie season for the Raiders. She is averaging 7.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game. The freshman is currently leading the PSAC in rebounds per game.
The team could not get enough of tight contests, as the Raiders narrowly defeated the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown at home on Sunday, 69–68, to improve to 4–3 on the season.
Shippensburg scored 20 points in the final four minutes to complete the comeback. Jones again led the way with 34 total points in the game, including 14 in that four-minute span. Jones is currently second in the PSAC with 25.4 points per game.
UPJ played tough, shooting 88 percent from the free-throw line. Gabrielle Smith led the way for the Mountain Cats with 32 points, five rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
Down two points with 11 seconds remaining, Smith missed a free throw for UPJ. Pettis grabbed the rebound and fished it to Jones, who sprinted down the court and finished a layup after a foul for a successful and-one, taking the lead back for the Raiders.
After the free throw, Jones stole the inbound pass, sealing the deal on the comeback win for SU.
Pettis posted her first career double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Green could only manage two points but snagged 11 rebounds.
Sophomore Kryshell Gordy finished 6-of-9 from the field for 15 points. Gordy has done a good job so far this season, upping her scoring from 7.8 points per game in her freshman season to 10.6 so far in her sophomore season.
Shippensburg did a good job stopping a powerful UPJ offense that features two of the top four scorers in the PSAC. The Raiders held UPJ just under its average points per game. UPJ averages 71.4 points per game and Shippensburg held the Cats to 68 points in the victory.
The Raiders will return to the floor Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they take on Lincoln University at Heiges Field House.
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