MORRISVILLE, N.Y. - A historic 2022-23 campaign came to an end for Penn State Harrisburg's women's basketball team with a narrow 47-42 loss to Morrisville in the United East Championship Game on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 25. 

Ciani Redd-Howard finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds to record her second straight double-double, while Bailey Oehmig added a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double of her own. 

With things tied 6-6 midway through the first quarter, the Mustangs (20-7), put together a 9-0 run to end the opening frame before leading by as many as 11 points at 20-9 at the 7:39 mark of the second period.

From there, the Lions (17-10) clamped down on the defensive end and slowly climbed back into it with a 14-1 run to end the first half. Layups from Oehmig and Redd-Howard cut into the deficit before Kendis Butler buried a game-tying 3-ball with 1:58 left in the second quarter. After Morrisville ended its scoring drought with a lone free throw, Jenna Montana answered by knocking down a triple to make it 23-21 heading into the break. 

Penn State Harrisburg opened the second half on a 5-0 run behind an Oehmig 3-pointer and a Redd-Howard layup but the Mustangs used back-to-back 3-pointers to keep it from getting away and cut the deficit to one. An Olivia Richardson layup eventually made it 36-31 with 1:24 left in the third but the home team again used a pair of timely 3-point field goals to erase the deficit and take a 37-36 advantage into the final period.

A layup and 3-pointer from Redd-Howard to open the fourth reclaimed the lead for Penn State Harrisburg with 7:52 to play and following a Morrisville layup at the 7:29 mark, the scored remained the same for the next 4:41 before the Mustangs converted a pair of game-tying free throws. During the stretch, the Lions worked the ball around to find open shots but none fell down the stretch. The home team used a jumper and driving layup to pull ahead and eventually held on to escape with a second straight conference title.

NOTABLES

- The trip to the conference title game was Penn State Harrisburg's first in program history. 

- The defensive struggle saw the Lions shoot just 38.5 percent from the foul line and 15.6 percent from beyond the arc.

- Penn State Harrisburg held Morrisville to just 31.9 percent shooting from the field and 22.2 percent shooting from 3-point range but the Mustangs shot 73.3 percent from the charity stripe. 

- The Lions were strong on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 47-33.

- Redd-Howard finished with a team-high 15 points and 13 rebounds.

- Oehmig grabbed a team-leading 14 boards to go along with 10 points. 

- Giahny Correa added four points and a pair of steals.

- Butler finished with three points and four rebounds. 

- Montana chipped in with three points and a team-high three assists off the bench.

- Jayla Galbreath had three points and a pair of assists. 

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