State College, Pa., Dec. 6,2002 --

State College won its season opener over visiting Bishop Hoban 72-38.

A balanced scoring effort by the Lady Little Lions countered a 28-point effort by the Argents' Meredith Alexis.

"I knew one kid wasn't going to hurt us," State College coach Bethany Irwin said. "Did we want her to score 28 points? No. That is a concern."

The Lions led 19-8 in the first quarter with all five starters sharing in the offense. Senior Nicole Scipione picked up four of her six points off steals. Senior Suzy Carlson added seven points and senior Liz Gabrille and juniors Sarah O'Shea and Katlyn Stupar each had two points.

By halftime, State College had increased its lead to 39-18 with much of the offense feeding off the results of a pressing defense. During one five-minute span, the Lions scored 17 points to the Argents' two.

"Defensively I can't say enough," Irwin said. "The kids played really, really hard. They went after loose balls."

Carlson nailed a trey and then completed another 3-point play to open the third quarter before Gabrille used her quickness to outrun everyone for a layup. Monica Fogelsanger converted two free throws and Jessie Sarafin added a long three followed by another Gabrielle two to give the Lions a 54-26 advantage.

Carlson and Scipione stretched the lead in the fourth quarter by combining for 10 unanswered points in the first three minutes of the period. O'Shea's bucket off a steal and Serafin's two treys completed the Lions' scoring for the night.

Scipione scored a team-high 21 points, Carlson had 18 points and Gabrielle 14 points to lead the Lions.

Alexis had six points in the first period and eight of her team's 10 points in the second stanza. She had another six points in the third period and eight of her team's 12 points in the final quarter.

State College will travel to Hollidaysburg next Wednesday (Dec. 11). A win there would give Irwin her 200th career victory. Her career mark of 199-94 includes three seasons at Bellefonte and a 165-65 mark in her 10th year at State College.

The State College junior varsity continued its winning ways with a 66-29 thumping of Hoban's JV. Serafin led all scorers with 21 points and Kelly Ashcraft had 15 points. Coach Rob Irwin's junior varsity team owns a three-year win streak that is now at 60 games.