Angela Sanders put herself in the Penn State Abington record books once again as she helped the Nittany Lions rally from a 14-point, first-quarter deficit and down host St. Mary's College of Maryland, 58-51, in a key United East Conference match-up.

The win improved Penn State Abington to 6-10 overall but, more importantly, 5-3 and tied for fourth in the conference standings at the midway point of the league tilt. The top four teams advance to the United East tournament. It also gave the Nittany Lions a season sweep of the Seahawks (7-9, 5-4).
 
Sanders finished the night with 22 points and 20 rebounds, making her the second player in program history to reach the 20-20 plateau in a game. The only other instance was Shayna Rodriguez, who had 23 points and 22 rebounds in a 66-50 victory over Penn College in 2017. Sanders reached the mark with a defensive rebound with just 1:19 remaining to help the Nittany Lions maintain their lead.
 
During their last match-up with St. Mary's, Sanders had her best game of the season, scoring 35 points on 68 percent shooting while pulling in 19 rebounds. She hit a key three-pointer with just under a minute remaining, followed by a pair of layups, including one with less than a second left in a 74-72 victory.
 
The Nittany Lions trailed big early tonight as the Seahawks scored the first 14 points of the game. Wynter Bess got Penn State Abington on the board with an and-one layup with five minutes left in the first, but St. Mary's continued to hold a double-digit lead and were up 24-11 after one.
 
Still down by 13 in the second quarter, the Nittany Lions went on a 16-1 run to take a 27-25 lead. Cassie Tavromina got things going with a jump shot, scoring six points during their run. Bess capped off the run with a three-pointer to give her team their first lead of the game.
 
The game remained close going into the fourth, with the Nittany Lions up by one point. Sanders once again came in clutch, scoring five straight to put Penn State Abington up by seven with just two minutes remaining. St. Mary's didn't get closer than five points the rest of the way.

One reason for the Nittany Lion comeback was their defense. They gave up just 27 points over the final three quarters and held the Seahawks to just 10-for-61 shooting (16.3 percent) in those 30 minutes.
 
Alongside Sanders' historical performance, Bess had a huge game for the Nittany Lions, scoring 18 points while being a shut down on defense with four steals. Bess' perimeter defense helped hold the Seahawks to just 7 percent shooting from beyond the arc (2-for-29). Camille Fleming grabbed 12 rebounds in the win and Cassie Tavormina added nine points and six boards.
 
Penn State Abington travels to conference leader Gallaudet University tomorrow night at 6 p.m.