PSU bounces Jacksonville State; Dukes hang on

Lamar Stevens and Rasir Bolton scored 25 points apiece and Penn State beat Jacksonville State, 76-61, Monday night.

Stevens also grabbed nine rebounds and Josh Reaves chipped in 11 points for the Nittany Lions (2-0) who won their second in a row at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.

Jason Burnell scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Jacksonville State (0-2). Derrick Mostella added 17 and Christian Cunningham notched 10 for the Gamecocks.

A back-and-forth first half turned for good on Bolton’s second 3-pointer of the game. It gave the Nittany Lions the lead with 6:17 to play in the first half and Stevens helped them seize control with six points over the next 4:31.

After leading at halftime, 37-32, Penn State built 11point leads twice before padding their total in the final minute.

Women

Duquesne 73, Mount St. Mary’s 64: Chassidy Omogrosso scored 14 points and Laia Solo came off the bench to also score 14 as the Dukes (1-2) raced out to a big lead and then held off Mount St. Mary’s (1-2), 7364, to win their home opener at Palumbo Center.

The Dukes led by as many as 24 points in the second quarter and never trailed in the game, but The Mount got within six points early in the final period. Then, Paige Cannon scored twice on layups and Omogrosso added two free throws to stretch the Dukes’ lead back to a 12, 6250, with 5:43 left.

Jatarrikah Settles led Mount St. Mary’s with 19 points, and Juliette Lawless and Michaela Harrison had 17 apiece.

Nina Aho added 10 for Duquesne.