College notebook: Another milestone for Penn State’s Marisa
Makenna Marisa continued her stellar career for Penn State women’s basketball team this season and recently became the seventh player in Nittany Lions history to score 2,000 points.
Marisa, a McMurray native and a standout on Peters Township’s undefeated state championship team in 2019, scored her 2,000th point on Jan. 25 in a 76-65 win over Northwestern.
One of the most decorated players in Nittany Lions history, Marisa finished tied for the team lead in scoring on the night with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting. She picked up her 2,000th point at the 2:47 mark of the third quarter with a right-handed layup.
A two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection, Marisa entered Thursday with 2,073 career points. She joins Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes as the three active players in the Big Ten to surpass 2,000 career points.
In track
Duquesne senior Hannah Seitzinger was named Tuesday the Atlantic 10 Track Performer of the Week.
Seitzinger won the 400 meters with an indoor personal-best 55.80 and was a member of the Dukes’ first-place 4×400-meter relay team at the Spire Collegiate Indoor Games last weekend.
The 55.80 time in the 400 is the fastest time in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season and moves Seitzinger up to third on the all-time Duquesne leaderboard.
The Belle Vernon native was the final leg of the relay team that charted a time of 3:47.95, the fastest time in the A-10 this season.
Seitzinger won back-to-back 500-meter gold medals at the A-10 Indoor Championships. This year’s championships will be held Feb. 23-24 in Virginia Beach, Va.
Gabe McConville, a junior distance runner from Waynesburg, is making an immediate impact at the University of Tampa.
A transfer from Seton Hill, McConville set a personal record in winning the 3,000 meters at the Celebration Pointe Classic held in Gainesville, Fla., on Feb. 2. McConville had a winning time of 8:23.77, which was almost four seconds faster than the runner-up time.
In basketball
Following a pair of strong performances in conference victories, Washington & Jefferson sophomore guard Stellanie Loutsion, a Canon-McMillan graduate, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
Loutsion averaged 14 points and 5.5 assists per game during the week as W&J picked up a pair of PAC wins. Loutsion scored a game-high 17 points with six assists and two steals in a road win at Franciscan. She tossed in 11 points and added five assists in a 103-58 win over Thiel. Loutsion shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from the field and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from three-point range for the week.
Loutsion is averaging 10.5 points per game, which ranks second on the team. She is shooting 47 percent from the field, 42 percent (24-for-57) from three-point range and 78 percent from the free-throw line.
She has a season-high points total of 23, set in a game against Geneva when she made 10 of 14 shots from the field. She has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games.
Villanova freshman guard Maddie Webber was named the Big East Rookie of the Week for Jan. 22-28.
A South Fayette graduate, Webber averaged 19.0 points per game in two games. The Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year last season, Webber scored 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting in a 95-64 victory over DePaul and tossed in a career-high 20 points in Villanova’s 82-76 overtime loss to Providence.
For the season, Webber is third on the team, averaging 8.6 points per game.
Former Peters Township standout Journey Thompson is a sophomore forward at Arizona State.
Thompson has started 20 of 24 games this season for the Sun Devils, who are 10-14 overall.
A McMurray native, Thompson recently set a season high in scoring with a 16-point performance against Oregon State. She also had a 13-rebound game against Stanford.
Former Trinity backcourt standout Alyssa Clutter is the third-leading scorer for North Alabama.
A sophomore guard, Clutter, who was the Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year in 2022, is averaging 10.6 and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Lions.
Clutter scored a season-high 23 points, on 10-for-14 shooting, against Bellarmine and had six steals in a game against Tennessee-Martin. Clutter is shooting 54 percent from the field.
The Penn State-Altoona women’s team has a Peters Township look with former Indians players Avana Sayles and Jordan Bisignani.
Sayles, a sophomore forward, is the Lions’ leading scorer at 16.0 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 7.8 per contest. Bisignani , a sophomore guard, ranks fourth in both scoring (10.6) and rebounding (5.0).
Sayles scored a season-high 28 points in an 82-74 win over Mount Aloysius. Against Carlow, Sayles had 22 points and 19 rebounds.
Bisignani scored 23 points in a 69-58 victory over Keuka and has had three 12-rebound games.
In wrestling
Saint Vincent sophomore Kyle McCollum, a Beth-Center graduate, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
The 133-pound McCollum went 2-0 on the week with a pair of bonus-point victories. Against Thiel, McCollum won a 19-8 major decision over the Tomcats’ Evan Whiteside. Three days later, in the Bearcats’ victory over Fairmont State, McCollum ended his match by scoring 15 unanswered points en route to a 19-4 technical fall over Austin Brett.
McCollum became the first wrestler in the Bearcats’ modern history to be named the PAC Wrestler of the Week.
McCollum is the top seed at 133 for the PAC Championships that begin Friday (5 p.m.) at Washington & Jefferson.
Lock Haven’s Wyatt Henson, a former PIAA state champion from Waynesburg, has a 30-2 record wrestling at 141 pounds.
Henson, who transferred to Lock Haven this season from Oklahoma, has a 10-1 record in dual meets. Of his 30 victories, five have come by pin and he leads the nation with 16 wins by technical fall. His 25 wins against Division I opponents ranks second in the nation.
A redshirt sophomore, Henson was named Monday as the Mid-American Conference Eastern Division Wrestler of the Week for the third time this season.
Luca Augustine of Waynesburg has had a big season for Pitt.
Augustine is currently ranked No. 18 in the country at 174 pounds. A redshirt sophomore, Augustine has an 11-4 record that includes one pin and two major decisions. He has started every dual meet at 174 and has outscored his opponents by a 38-12 margin.