The Bethel Park Lady Hawks stunned the Upper Saint Clair Lady Panthers Thursday night with a 52-47 victory on the Lady Panthers’ home court. Going into the game, the Lady Panthers were sitting at 8-0 overall, and 3-0 in section play.

 At halftime, the Lady Hawks were trailing 38-28 but stepped up big on defense in the second half only allowing nine points from the Lady Panthers.

“I think that our defense was really strong this past game,” said senior guard Emma Dziezgowski, who made crucial foul shots at the end of the game. “USC was averaging around 68-70 points per game, and we held them to a solid 47.” Dziezgowski contributed 20 points to the Lady Hawks’ victory. 

The Lady Hawks are hoping to use this win as motivation for the rest of the season and section play. “It was a huge team effort and we have to keep the momentum going,” said sophomore forward Becky Gillenberger, who scored 10 points against the Lady Panthers.

Olivia Willig, a junior guard, also agrees. “We know that we can beat good teams,” said Willig. “We now have the energy and momentum we need going into the rest of the season.” 

The Lady Hawks have a huge section game on Monday, Jan. 10 at home against the undefeated Lady Blue Devils of Mt. Lebanon at 7:30.