Phoenixville, PA – A strong final stanza would give the Nittany Lions a 17-point advantage to overcome the Patriots 64-47 at home on Wednesday evening. With the loss, the Patriots move to 2-6 on the season, respectively.

The Patriots were led by sophomore Cayleen Conrad who dished out 21 points, followed by senior Alea Flowers who collected her second double-double of the season as she notched an additional 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"Being our first game after break, we knew we had some kinks to work out," head coach Gretchen LeVan shared. "We also knew PSU Berks was a very good team that had a significant height advantage on us. We came up with a game plan to get them off theirs and our team executed very well. Cayleen Conrad not only held their best player to 5 points, but she added 21 points for us. Ultimately shooting 11% in the fourth-quarter really hurt us down the stretch, but after going head to head in three quarters, forcing 21 turnovers we were proud of our team's attitude and effort the entire game."

With the game in full swing, Cayleen Conrad would put the Patriots on the board first with a free-throw. Over a minute later, the Lions would break their scoreless game at 7:50 with fast-break layup from Kylie Herman. The Patriots would begin to fire up their offense with back-to-back trey balls from Amaya Brown and Cayleen Conrad, giving Valley Forge a 3-point lead until the Lions would respond with a jumper in the paint from Herman. However, the Patriots would begin to separate themselves as Kaitlyn Hess would drain a shot from behind-the-arc, followed by two good free-throws from Alea Flowers to give Valley Forge a 7-point benefit at the end of the first-quarter.

After yet another hesitant start, Herman would hit two consecutive jumpers to cut the Patriots lead to only three. Down 16-19, Penn State would go on a quick 4-0 run to give the Lions the 1-point lead. After a back-and-forth spurt, the game was tied 23-23 at half-time.

At 23 apiece, the Lions gathered their largest lead of the night with a three ball from Sam Brensinger, changing the scoreboard to 28-24. The Patriots quickly retaliated with a Cayleen Conrad jumper and three-point shot. Down 2-points, Cayleen Conrad would keep the momentum from behind the arc, draining her fourth trey ball of the game and her third of the quarter. The Patriots would attempt to lengthen their lead with a pair of free-throws from Alea Flowers, but the Lions made a quick steal and fast-break layup, followed by a jumper from Julia Bookwater to give Penn State another 1-point lead. However, the Patriots would end the quarter strong as Megan Firth powered down to the basket for a layup, trailed by another Cayleen Conrad three-pointer to secure a 2-point benefit for Valley Forge.

The Patriots would start the final quarter with another three ball from Cayleen Conrad to give Valley Forge a quick 5-point advantage. Unfortunately, the Patriots would score their final points of the game at 5:33 with a jump shot from Alea Flowers, allowing the Lions to break free. Penn State out-scored Valley Forge 24-5 in the final stanza.

As a team, the Patriots struggled offensively, hitting 16-70 from the field (22.9%), and 9-39 from the three-point line (30.8%).

The Lions posted a 68-38 rebound advantage, collecting a significant 23 points off of second chances.

The Patriots will continue their season at home as they welcome the Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers-Camden on Monday, January 17^th for a 7 p.m. tip-off.