ABINGTON, PA -- Despite a valiant effort, the Penn State Abington women's basketball team dropped a 72-60, United East Conference match-up against visiting SUNY Morrisville.
 
The Nittany Lions (7-13, 6-6) were undermanned as they had just six healthy players on the evening and played the last three-plus minutes with four on the court. They battled all night against a Mustang team that sits in second place in the conference with an 8-3 mark (12-7 overall).
  
Penn State Abington trailed by just five, 27-22, at halftime. A three-point play by Angela Sanders 30 second into the third made it a two-point contest. Morrisville pushed the lead up to six and were still ahead by four, 39-35 with 90 seconds left in the quarter. Camille Fleming hit a jumper and Sanders followed with a pair from the foul line to tie it up with 45 seconds to go. Cara Walker scored inside for the Mustangs, but Sanders answered with a floater. Then, Lacy MacLachlin banked in a trey from the left corner at the buzzer to give the Nittany Lions a 44-41 lead heading into the fourth.
 
Fleming extended the lead to six with a layup and, after a Morrisville, free throw, Wynter Bess hit a jumper for a 48-42 Penn State Abington lead with 9:29 remaining. The Mustangs missed a 3-point attempt, making them 4-for-28 from beyond the arc. However, they hit three of their four attempts from downtown, including two from Dezia Becker. They added a free throw shortly after for a 10-0 run and a 52-48 advantage.

Bess hit a jumper to get to within two and they were still down three with 4:06 to go, before another 10-run by Morrisville put the game away. The Mustangs finished the fourth quarter 6-for-10 from 3-point land.

Fleming had a career night for the Nittany Lions as she was 9-for-16 from the field and finished with 20 points as well as 10 rebounds, Bess had 14 points and six boards while MacClachlin hit a trio of three and had 11 points while playing all 40 minutes. Sanders played 23 minutes due to foul trouble and racked up 11 points. Safara McIntyre added four points and eight rebounds while Kankoun Sylla grabbed a career-best 13 boards.

Taylor Colone-Microni paced Morrisville with 18 points while Walker added 13 points.

Penn State Abington will travel to Penn College for a United East contest on Saturday, February 12 (3 p.m.).