Box Score Gwynedd Valley, Pa. - The Penn State Abington women's basketball team dropped their season opener at the Gwynedd-Mercy Tip-Off Tournament this evening. The Nittany Lions, in the first game of head coach Annette Reiter's tenure at Abington, fell to the host Griffins by a score of 96-53.
 
Penn State Abington was able to keep pace with the Griffins for the early part of the first half. Then, with twelve minutes left to go, a three-pointer by Gwynedd-Mercy's Kristen Fuery put the home team up by eleven, a double-digit lead that the Griffins would hold for the rest of the contest.
 
This was not for a lack of trying, however, as Abington would continue try and cut into the Gwynedd-Mercy lead. At one point in the first half, the Griffins were able to push their advantage to 20 points, but a 15-9 run from the Nittany Lions closed the halftime deficit to 14 points.
 
Unfortunately for Abington, Gwynedd-Mercy came right back out of the break and went on a 20-1 run to put the game out of reach. By the time all was said and done, the final deficit was 43 points. The Nittany Lions were actually able to shoot a better percentage from behind the arc on the evening, draining their three pointers at a 53% clip. However, that was just about the only stat category that Gwynedd-Mercy did not lead in. One of the biggest pitfalls for Abington was their turnovers, as the Nittany Lions turned the ball over 31 times, and the Griffins were able to tally 42 points off those turnovers.
 
Senior Trish Watson led all scorers with 29 points on the night and managed to chip in 7 rebounds as well. Sophomore Jessica Schmidt added another 16 points and 9 rebounds in the game. Junior Lauren Smith and sophomore Shea Wassel led the Griffins with 15 points apiece, while junior Jordan Dominic totaled another 13 points and 4 assists.
 
The Nittany Lions have a chance to bounce right back tomorrow afternoon in the consolation game of the tournament, as they will tip-off against Salisbury University at 12 p.m. The Sea Gulls dropped their earlier matchup against Montclair State, 79-53. Keep checking in at abingtonsports.com for all your news and notes on Nittany Lions basketball.