Williamsport, Pa., Jan. 20, 2003 -- Free Throw shooting plus double-figure scoring efforts by seniors Nicole Scipione, Liz Gabrielle and Suzy Carlson with junior Sarah O'Shea also chipping in 14 points put State College in a position to defeat Williamsport 74-48 on the Lady Millionaires' home court.

Free throws figured into the end result because State College was a collective 18 of 23 at the line while Williamsport struggled to make nine of 22.

As to her team's better shooting performance at the line, coach Bethany Irwin said, "Thank goodness it was or else it would have been a different ball game."

State College roared out of the gate to a 6-0 lead but Williamsport kept pace to tie the score at 7-7 with 4:21 left in the first quarter.

Sarah O'Shea put back an offensive rebound then Liz Gabrielle scored after a steal to begin a 16-6 run for the Lady Little Lions who led 23-13 at the end of the first period.

The lead increased to 40-20 by halftime because Nicole Scipione and Liz Gabrielle went on a tear scoring State College's first 11 points of the second quarter.

The Lady Little Lions enjoyed a 57-31 advantage by the end of the third quarter thanks to balanced scoring from its starters backed up by jv players Jessie Serafin and Liz Miller who came off the bench to add four points and one assist.

Reserve Carly Onkotz scored the first bucket for State College in the fourth period and the Lady Little Lions held firm with six straight free throws countering an eye-popping performance from Willianmsport's 6-0 freshman Medina Ali. Ali scored 10 of her game-high 19 points in the final period.

Meanwhile, State College was cashing in on its depth getting points from jv players Jessie Serafin and Kelly Ashcraft as well as Scipione, Katlyn Stupar, O'Shea, Gabrielle and Carlson.

The final result and the challenge of facing a promising young post player brought this response from Irwin.

"I knew we had experience and that's what we wanted to go with," Irwin said. "I think they're going to have a great team in the next couple of years," Irwin said of Williamsport. "We stuck with what we knew and what we wanted to work on."

State College's J.V. team stretched its winning streak to 72 games with a 72-27 victory over the Lady Millionaires' JV. Sara Grove led a parade of 10 players who scored with 15 points.

State College begins the second cycle of games against Mountain High League opponents Wednesday by hosting Hollidaysburg. The Lady Little Lions defeated the Tigers 70-46 on Dec. 16 in Hollidaysburg.