MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's women's basketball team used a strong fourth quarter to hold off a stingy Lancaster Bible squad at the Capital Union Building on Wednesday night, secure a 60-51 playoff victory and advance to the quarterfinal round of the United East Championship Tournament.


Jordan Carpenter flirted with a double-double, finishing with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds, while Mikayla Coleman added 16 points. Giahny Correa was the third player to reach double figures with 11 points and Lauren Moffatt grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.


Holding a slim 38-37 lead after three quarters, the Lions (18-8) erupted to begin the fourth, using a 10-0 run sparked by a pair of Ali Lister free throws and capped by two Carpenter foul shots to stretch the advantage to a more comfortable 48-37 with 5:16 to play.


Penn State Harrisburg kept the Chargers (10-15) at bay for the majority of the frame but the visitors made one last push to cut the deficit to five with 53 seconds left. The Lions were cool in crunch time, however, with Correa, JP Ferguson, Lister and Carpenter combining to go 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute and punching the team's ticket to the next round of the conference championship tournament.


Leading 25-21 at the break, the home team scored the first eight points of the second half to take the largest lead of the night at 34-21 following a Moffatt jumper with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter. From there, Lancaster Bible slowly chipped away and strung together an 11-1 spurt to end the frame and pull to within one with 10 minutes to play.


The first quarter was a feeling out process, with neither team creating breathing room. The Chargers used a late 3-pointer to pull ahead and hold a 13-12 lead after one and increased the narrow advantage to 21-16 with 7:13 left in the first half. Penn State Harrisburg dug in defensively from there and did not surrender a single point for the rest of the second quarter. In the meantime, Coleman knocked down one 3-ball and added a layup after a Correa bucket to give the Lions a four-point lead at the half.


NOTABLES
- Penn State Harrisburg shot 39.2 percent from the floor and an impressive 85 percent from the foul line.
- The Lions connected on just three 3-pointers but scored 32 points in the paint.
- Carpenter finished with a game-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds.
- Coleman netted 16 points and grabbed four boards.
- Correa scored 11 points and swiped a pair of steals.
- Lister tallied seven points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals.
- Moffatt pulled down a game-high nine boards to go along with six points.


WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions travel to No. 3-seeded Gallaudet for United East Tournament Quarterfinal action on Saturday afternoon.


STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.