Beaver Beats #1 Seed Central Maine to Advance to USCAA Semi-Finals 56-50

Richmond, VA - Penn State Beaver Women's Basketball team continued their journey in the USCAA National Championship by taking on #1 seed Central Maine Community College. 

Despite Beaver being ranked #8 and CMCC bring ranked #1, seeds and rankings mean nothing when a National Championship is on the line. CMCC had a first round bye, therefore they didn't have to play a game until the second round of the championship. Having a bye can have its pros and cons for a team; in one sense you get to rest and watch your potenial opponents; in another sense you are breaking rhythm and getting out of the "pedal to the floor" mentality when other teams are competing at a high level. 

To start the game off, Beaver came out firing on all cylinders and took an 18-10 lead in the first quarter. CMCC slowly battled back in the second quater and cut the deficit to 5 by halftime, trailing by a score of 31-26. The third quarter was a neck-and-neck affair where only 23 points were scored between the two teams. CMCC was able to cut their deficit to four by trailing 42-38 heading into the fourth and final quarter of the game. However, Beaver had other plans for how the game was going to end. Led by 20 points and 11 rebounds from Kiera Baker, (Houston, TX), Beaver was able to pull off the upset by winning with a final socre of 56-50. 

Despite Beaver's win, the final stats tell a differtn sotry then the scoreboard. Beaver finishd with the same as or infereir stats compared to CMCC except for three categories. Beaver trailed by 32 in field goal attempts, by 8 in bench points and assists, and had as many seconf chance points. The real perplexing stat was that Beaver turned the ball over 34 times, compared to CMCC 15, and CMCC was able to turn those into 23 points, compared to Beaver's 7. Looking at those one would think that CMCC won the game in a domiant fashion, but a few major categories told the full picutre. Despite Beaver not taking nealry as many shots as CMCC, they had a 40% field goal percentage while CMCC posted just of 25%. Beaver also had 55 rebounds, compared to CMCC 46, and 28 points in the paint, compared to 18 from CMCC. Beaver's ability to control the boards and score points in the paint became the determining factor in the game and gave Beaver the ability to pull off the upset. 

Beaver will face Johnson & Wales on March 15 at 2PM!