Box Score Abington, Pa. – The Penn State Abington women's basketball gutted out a crucial win in the team's North Eastern Athletic Conference play on Sunday afternoon, knocking off Morrisville State by a 51-41 margin.
 
The victory was Abington's third consecutive conference win, their best start since joining the NEAC in 2008, and 5-5 overall. Morrisville State dropped to 0-3 in the NEAC conference and 0-9 on the season.
 
Suffering a tough loss the day before, Morrisville had every intention to come into today's game and create a potential upset and the Mustangs did just that. At the tip-off, Morrisville jumped out to a 11-3 lead, thanks to Queen Holquin's three-pointer that sparked a 8-0 run in just three minutes into the game.
 
Abington began to chip away with baskets of their own, but could not maintain possession as the Mustangs kept pressured with their 2-3 zone defense, forcing the Lady Lions to shoot outside of the perimeter, only to collect 21 defensive rebounds in the first half alone.
 
Morrisville kept the Lady Lions at bay throughout the half, forcing seven turnovers but were unable to covert any points. The Mustangs managed to find the baskets, extending the margin to nine points for the 26-17 lead at halftime. Abington went into the locker room shooting just 18.8 percent (6-for-32) from the field, despite the seven turnovers committed.  
 
Abington came out rejuvenated in the second half, led by the sharp shooting of senior Trish Watson. Watson scored 13 points in the second half after having none in the first. Sophomore Jessica Schmidt also stepped up on her game, scoring 12 additional points after only putting up two in the first.
 
Trailing 31-20 with 17:15 remaining on the clock, a layup by Schmidt sparked the comeback for Abington as Watson posted a layup of her own and followed up with a three-pointer to pull the Lady Lions within two. Junior Jaclyn VanDiver later erased the score with a layup of her own with 12:59 remaining on the clock.
 
Both teams battled in the final ten minutes of the game, trading baskets before Watson drained a three-pointer to give the Lady Lions their first lead of the game at 42-39 with five minutes remaining.
 
Morrisville looked to retake the lead, but could not convert the opportunities at the board as Abington extended the lead with a 12-2 run and held on for the 51-41 victory.
 
The Lady Lions shot for a mere 46.7 percent on the floor during the second half as Schmidt led the scorers with 14 points, collecting seven rebounds on the day, while junior Janay Winston tallied six points and ten rebounds.
 
The Lady Lions will now hit the road for four-straight conference games. Abington begins the road trip on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at Wilson College at 7 p.m. Abington will then travel north to Cazenovia on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. and SUNYIT the following day, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. The Lady Lions concludes the road trip on at Penn State Berks on Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.
 
Stay tuned to abingtonsports.com for all your updates on opponents and gametimes, and all your other Penn State Abington Nittany Lions news!