Beckley's Career-High 31 Leads Lady Raiders to Season Opening 89-71 Win Over Tiffin
Nov. 16, 2007
Box Score
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The reigning PSAC Western Division
Rookie of the Year, sophomore Lauren Beckley (Fairfield/Fairfield), picked
up right where she left off last season as she scored a career-high 31 points
while adding 10 rebounds to lead the Shippensburg University women's basketball
team to an 89-71 victory over Tiffin in the season-opener for both teams
at the Wolf's Bus Lines Tournament inside Heiges Field House.
After scoring a PSAC freshman record 548 points last season, Beckley opened
this season with her eighth double double in just the 29th game of her career.
She scored 31 points in just 30 minutes which included 21 in 19 minutes in
the first half.
Beckley led four Lady Raiders (1-0) in double figures with freshman Kasey
Gardner (Sharpsville/Sharpsville) totaling 16 points and seven rebounds.
The highly-touted freshman had 1,445 points and 731 rebounds in high school,
and head coach Kristy Trn expects her to compete for PSAC Western Division
Rookie of the Year honors in 2008. If selected, Gardner would be the fifth
Lady Raider to be named as such in the nine years under Trn.
Tiffin (0-1) opened the game on a 10-4 run in the first four minutes before
the Lady Raiders went on a 12-5 run with 10 points coming from Beckley, to
take their first lead, 16-15 with 12:10 remaining.
Shippensburg led 43-35 at halftime with Beckley and Gardner combining for
31 points.
In the second half, the Lady Raiders would extend their lead to as many as
26 with 11:36 left to play en route to the team's eighth season-opening victory
in nine seasons under Trn.
Senior Megan Fogle (Roaring Spring/Eastern York) began her final season at
Shippensburg with 14 points, seven on which came from the free throw line
where she was a perfect 7-of-7. For her career, Fogle has made 77.9 percent
of her free throw attempts and is just behind the record of 79.3 held by
current assistant coach Jen Scaffidi. Fogle also added four rebounds and
four assists.
The final player in double figures for Shippensburg was junior Elise
Mercer (Bishopville, Md./Stephen Decator) who, after two seasons as a guard, totaled
10 points and seven rebounds, both career-highs, in her first game as a forward.
Meanwhile, junior Chrissy Minnick (Williamsport, Md./Williamsport) totaled
seven points and six rebounds in her Shippensburg debut after averaging 3.5
points and 5.6 rebounds in two previous seasons at Hagerstown Community College.
Other notable performances came from sophomores Sheila Wasser (Tremont/Pine
Grove) and Michelle Metz (Pottstown/Pottsgrove). In just her ninth collegiate
game, Wasser totaled a career-high seven points, two rebounds and 20 minutes
after totaling three points, one rebound and 18 minutes in eight games last
season.
In her sixth career start, Metz had four points, three rebounds and three
assists.
Shippensburg will look for its eighth Wolf's Bus Lines Tournament championship
in the last 10 years on Saturday when its plays Hillsdale College from Michigan
at 6:00 p.m. Behind 26 points and nine rebounds from Katie Cezat, the Chargers
held off a late rally to defeat West Virginia Wesleyan, 66-55 in Friday's
first game.
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