Marisa, Williamson give PSU local flavor
The Penn State women’s basketball team has a definite Washington County feel.
So much so that 40 percent of the Nittany Lions’ starting lineup hails from the area.
MaKenna Marisa, a senior guard from McMurray and a Peters Township graduate, along with Alexa Williamson, a graduate transfer from Temple and a Chartiers-Houston product, have helped Penn State to a 5-0 start heading into a game Friday against Toledo in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Marisa is the Nittany Lions’ leading scorer, averaging 19.6 points per game. She is shooting 47% from three-point range and has made 18 of 22 free throws. Marisa leads the team in assists (25), and is second in rebounds (6.0 per game) and steals.
Her season-high in scoring is 24 points, which came against Norfolk State. In a win over Syracuse, Marisa had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Against the Orange, Penn State overcame a 21-point deficit to win, 82-69.
Williamson is in her first season with the Nittany Lions but has started every game. She is averaging 9.2 points per game and is shooting 57% from the field. Williamson, a forward, averages 3.0 rebounds per game. Her most productive scoring game was a 20-point performance against Bryant.
In football
Former South Fayette standout Noah Plack was selected All-Colonial Athletic Conference first team.
A fifth-year senior safety, at Delaware, Plack has been named to the all-conference team three times. This season, set a career high with 84 tackles to rank second on the Blue Hens. His best game was in the season opener at Navy when he made a career-high 17 tackles against the Midshipmen’s triple-option attack.
Plack also had 10 tackles against William & Mary.
Delaware will participate in the FCS playoffs beginning Saturday against St. Francis (Pa.).
Dillon O’Donoghue, a senior linebacker at Baldwin-Wallace and a Canon-McMillan graduate, received honorable mention on the All-Ohio Athletic Conference team.
O’Donoghue started all 10 games this season and was third on the team and tied for 15th in the OAC with a career-high 68 tackles. He made a career-best seven tackles for loss and five pass breakups.
He recovered his first career fumble against Otterbein on Oct. 22, forced a fumble a week later at Capital and intercepted his first career pass against Mount Union on Nov. 12.
For his career, O’Donoghue appeared in 21 games and made 128 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, broke up 11 passes, had two sacks, one fumble recovery and one interception.
O’Donoghue was a team captain for the Yellow Jackets and a two-time BW Defensive Player of the Week.
Brian Bruzdewicz, a junior kicker from McMurray, was the leading scorer for Duquesne.
A Peters Township graduate, Bruzdewicz made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts with a long of 40 yards. He also converted all 30 of his extra-point tries. He was 3-for-3 on field goals against Central Connecticut State and had three games in which he made two field goals, including the Dukes’ contest at Hawaii.
In wrestling
Seton Hill’s Brandon Matthews, a senior from Venetia, was named Tuesday the PSAC Wrestler of the Week.
A Peters Township graduate, Matthews (184 pounds) went 3-0 at the Seton Hill Duals. He won a match by technical fall and then won a match by DQ with his opponent getting five stalling warnings. Matthews was the lone Seton Hill winner in a match against Lake Erie. Matthews helped Seton Hill to a victory over No. 20 Belmont Abbey with his technical fall.
Waynesburg University’s Colby Morris, a former standout at Waynesburg Central, wrestled his first collegiate matches since February of 2021 during the Yellow Jackets’ annual duals. Morris had a 3-0 record with two pins and for his performance was named the Waynesburg Male Athlete of the Week.
Morris (174) was away from the team last year as he fulfilled his training obligations to the United States National Guard. Morris started his day with a 7-1 decision win over Rochester Institute of Technology’s Ben Dougherty, then pinned Shippensburg’s Cole Lang in 2:37 for his first fall of the year. Morris’ ended his day with a pin in 4:14 over Messiah’s Austin Brass.
In basketball
Isabella Mills, a senior from Peters Township, is the leading scorer for Case Western Reserve.
Mills is averaging 15.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Spartans, who are off to a 5-2 start. Mills has a pair of 20-point games, against Westminster (Mo.) and Alma.