It has been a long offseason but at long last, basketball returns to Thomas Fieldhouse in Lock Haven. And it could not have gotten off to a better start for the PSAC, as they won three out of the four matches,

The tournament started Friday, with Lock Haven and Concord squaring off, before Seaton Hill would match up against No. 7-ranked Fairmont State.

Lock Haven earned a hard fought victory, beating the Mountain Lions, 84-67. IUP transfer Keira Baughman got her Bald Eagle career off to an amazing start, scoring a game high 23 points while also adding three assists and three rebounds.

After losing Taylor Leidy to graduation, Lock Haven coach Jenifer Smith needed to fill the point guard role, and Baughman seemed like a natural fit. Baughman started at IUP for the previous two seasons, and was an All-PSAC player last year for the Crimson Hawks. But greener pastures called, and after visiting Lock Haven, Baughman’s choice was an easy one.

Alongside Baughman Lock Haven had stand out performances from Madeline Evans, who had a ridiculous 18-point, 20-rebound performance, and Jenadia Jordan who added 12 points of her own.

For Concord it was center Abby Smith who led the charge, finishing the night with 18 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 5-9 from the field.

After their victory over Concord, Lock Haven watched as fellow PSAC school Seaton Hill knocked off No. 7 Fairmont State in a thrilling 77-73 victory. The Griffins victory meant that Fairmont State would go into their matchup versus the Bald Eagles knowing they needed a win to keep their season on track.

Meanwhile for Lock Haven, a win versus a team of Fairmont’s caliber would almost certainly assure they would crack the women’s top 25 for Division II.

Day 2 of the PSAC versus MEC tournament started off with a bang, as Seaton Hill completely decimated Concord. The Griffins set a women’s PSAC record for points in a game with 120, all while holding the Mountain Lions to just 77.

Then after a short break it was time for the main event. Two teams that made the NCAA tournament last year would go head to head as Lock Haven versus Fairmont State tipped off.

The first quarter started out about as well as Lock Haven could have asked for, as they went up 22-14 thanks to a great quarter from Evans and Jordan. Little would they know that that would be the only quarter in which they would outscore the Fightin’ Falcons.

In the second and third quarters it looked like Lock Haven was in control, going up 12 points midway through the third and in clear sight of their second win on the season.

There were five minutes left in the third when things started to go wrong for the Bald Eagles, five straight offensive possessions with turnovers all led directly to Fairmont points.

The Lock Haven offense managed to settle down at the start of the fourth, but a 12-0 run by the Fightin’ Falcons gave them their first lead of the night with seven minutes left. From there the game slowly slipped away from Lock Haven, as they went on to lose 78-70.

Fairmont’s Leslie Huffman and Jalen Gibbs each had huge performances, both scoring 19 and Huffman shooting 3-4 from 3-point range.

For Lock Haven it was Evans and Jordan who led the way with Jordan scoring 17 and 8, meanwhile Evans went for 16/2/10, shooting a perfect 7 of 7. Baughman and Rhylin Rouse tacked on 14 and 13 points, respectively.

“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed, I don’t think we played like Lock Haven today,” coach Smith said. “We had opportunities to separate and finish this game, then our effort level went down, that is not Lock Haven basketball.”

The Bald Eagles will have a chance to get back to their winning ways soon enough, as they travel to Frostburg State on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. They will return home Saturday to take on Roberts Wesleyan.