State College girls basketball rolls in 2nd half past Hazleton
Trailing by four points after the first quarter, and leading by just two at halftime, the State College girls’ basketball team raced to a decisive win Saturday.
Paced by a 37-point night from Kyla Irwin, the Lady Little Lions find their footing and dominated Hazleton 65-35.
Kayla Hawbaker added 16 points.
Abby Allen opened the game with a nothing but net on a 3-pointer for State College (17-3). Moments later, Jess Orndorf scored off of an open layup after a Lady Little Lion steal. However, State College’s early 10-5 lead would fall flat as Hazleton put on a dominant full court press and three 3-pointers to take the quarter with a 16-12 lead.
“Hazleton is a very good outside shooting team,” State College coach Bethany Irwin said. “They don’t have any height, but there’s games where they put up 16 3-pointers, so we had to find some fire in there.”
Confidently going into the second quarter, the Cougars were willing to work State College’s offense, looking for the perfect shot. They worked the ball for 2 1/2 minutes until they took their first shot. It missed. When the Lady Cougars fouled Jess Orndorf, she hit one free throw before missing the next, but Kyla Irwin was there for the rebound to cut the Cougars’ lead to one.
On the next possession, Irwin made a huge block against Hazleton’s Alyssa Shamany, who was attempting another 3-pointer. The Lady Little Lions held Hazleton to only six points in the quarter to take a 24-22 lead at halftime.
Irwin scored every bucket in the quarter for the Lady Little Lions, while Casey Witter and Orndorf added a single free-throw each. The 10-point quarter would be a small part of Irwin’s big game and big week. She became State College’s all-time scorer, male or female, on Thursday and averaged 36.3 points per game in three wins this week.
“Kyla had a lot of offensive rebounds and putbacks, and that kind of stuff,” Bethany Irwin said, “and it was just a combination of things from there, and they just finally got their fire.”
Even with the close score at half, Coach Irwin was confident in her team. “We were just a little sluggish in the first half,” she admitted.
In the third quarter, State College held Hazleton to only five points.
“We kept saying ‘just pound it inside, let’s get a lead and then pound it inside,’ and that’s what we did,” Irwin said.
An 11-0 run closed the third quarter for a commanding 39-27 lead.
While Kyla Irwin highlighted the first three quarters, Hawbaker would star in the fourth.
After Bethany Irwin pulled the junior for a quick talk, Hawbaker made her presence known by scoring all 16 of her points in the quarter.
Hawbaker started the quarter with a steal for an open layup, she scored again when Kyla Irwin got a steal for herself and dished it to Hawbaker. She scored again on the next possession off another steal. Two Hawbaker 3-pointers and a few foul shots later had the team up 63-33.
“Me sitting her and challenging her, I think, really put a spark into her.” Irwin said.
State College will host Hollidaysburg on Wednesday for the program’s Pink-Out game.
This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 9:53 PM with the headline "State College girls basketball rolls in 2nd half past Hazleton."