WBB huddle NEAC Quarterfinal
Tyler Schueck
64
Penn State Harrisburg PSHW 12-14
103
Winner Penn State Berks PSBW 16-9
Penn State Harrisburg PSHW
12-14
64
Final
103
Penn State Berks PSBW
16-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Penn State Harrisburg PSHW 21 9 20 14 64
Penn State Berks PSBW 20 27 31 25 103

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Armstrong powers Nittany Lions to playoff win

READING, PA - Katie Armstrong turned in a career performance to lead Penn State Berks to its first North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Postseason win in a decade, as Berks topped Penn State Harrisburg, 103-64, on Tuesday night. The 103 points scored were the most in a game this season and the second most in program history.

This was the first time Berks won a conference playoff game since going 3-0 and winning the NEAC Championship in the 2009-10 season. That was also the last time the Nittany Lions hosted a home postseason contest. The 2009-10 squad is the only team in program history to make it to the NCAA Tournament.

Berks has won a season-best seven straight to improve to 16-9 overall, while Harrisburg drops to 12-14 on the season. These two teams met exactly one week ago, with Berks squandering a 20-point fourth quarter lead, but prevailing in overtime by a score of 86-83. That victory secured the No. 2 seed in the South Division for Berks and gave them home court for tonight's NEAC Quarterfinal round game.

Tonight's game was eerily similar to last week's. In both games, Harrisburg led at the first quarter, but Berks used strong shooting and solid defense to win the second and third periods. The difference tonight was that Berks kept its foot on the gas and dominated the fourth quarter too.

Harrisburg was ahead 21-20 after the first quarter, but Berks outscored the visitors 27-9 in the second to take an 17 point (47-30) advantage into the break. Berks topped Harrisburg 31-20 in the third and had another 11-point cushion in the fourth (25-14) to secure the victory.

All five of the Berks starters played 31 or more minutes and all of them registered 11 or more points. Armstrong, who picked the perfect time to go off for a career-high, finished with a game-high 30 points. The junior guard was 8-of-13 from the field – including a 4-of-5 showing from 3-point range – and was 10-for-11 from the free throw line. She turned in a balanced attack with 15 points in the first half and 15 in the second. In addition, Armstrong recorded eight rebounds to go along with contest-highs of seven assists and five steals.

Kylie Herman followed Armstrong with a 22-point effort, while also grabbing six boards and two assists. Nicole Kopcik turned in a monster performance with a double-double after recording 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Julia Bookwalter chipped in 13 points, five boards, and three assists, while Sam Brensinger had 11 points, four assists, and three steals. Abbie Carr and Kendall Bossler added four points each.

Berks held a 37-23 advantage in the battle of the boards and committed just 14 turnovers compared to 21 by Harrisburg. Another difference was at the foul line, where Berks shot 90.3% (28-for-31), while Harrisburg was just 1-for-2 at the line. The 28 free throws made were tied for the seventh most in a single-game, while the 90.3% was the eighth best all-time.

Jayla Galbreath led Harrisburg with 17 points, followed by Kendis Butler with 13 and Laurel Amey with 11. Amey also had a team-high seven boards and five assists.

Berks will take on No. 1 seed and tournament host SUNY Poly in the NEAC Semifinal round on Saturday, February 29 at 2 p.m. The winner of that game will play in the NEAC Championship on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m. with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
 
 
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