Knoch grad Maddie Boyer putting up big numbers as freshman for Penn State Behrend women's basketball

In the seventh game of the season, the Penn State Behrend women’s basketball team stared down a 13-point deficit at Oberlin with the second-half clock ticking under 5 minutes.

Coach Christine VanHook called timeout as she saw her team’s chances slipping away. When players huddled, freshman Maddie Boyer spoke up.

As VanHook recalled, Boyer’s message was something to the effect of, “We are not losing this game.”

Pretty bold for a freshman to assert her feelings that way. But, VanHook said, that is typical of the Knoch grad. Boyer, VanHook said, doesn’t like to lose during a practice drill, much less a game.

Penn State Behrend didn’t lose.

The Lions outscored Oberlin, 30-6, in the final 4 minutes, 31 seconds of regulation and overtime to come away with an 86-75 victory. Boyer did her part, scoring five points down the stretch in regulation and assisting on the tying layup by Alexis Furyes with 1 second left.

Boyer finished that game with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Like her confident, never-say-lose attitude, that performance is typical of what Boyer has brought to the Erie campus.

Through PS Behrend’s first 17 games, during which the Lions went 13-4 and 5-1 in the Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference, Boyer was third on the team with an average of 16.4 points. The only conference loss was to AMCC favorite La Roche, an overtime affair in which Boyer had 24 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.

She has scored in double figures in every game but one and has eclipsed 20 points five times. She is shooting a robust 51.0% from the floor, including 43.2% (35 of 81) from 3-point range. The 5-foot-11 forward also averages 7.0 rebounds.

Her success, VanHook said, is more than the sum of her skills.

“When you’re out recruiting, you’re looking for skill, but you’re also looking at how they’re talking,” she said. “Are they leading? How do they act on the bench, on the sideline? How are they talking to their teammates? How are they reacting to adversity?

“I was really excited about the player I was getting and the person. She just brings that competitive fire that you can’t coach. That’s what makes her great.”

Boyer said her competitive nature was a product of her youth, when she frequently was playing basketball or football in the back yard with her cousins. As far as having the boldness to speak up, that, she said is just part of her personality.

“I just kind of have that mindset,” she said. “Being able to be vocal during practice, and that continues now into the games. We’re all friends, and everyone takes each other’s opinions not to heart. So if you have something to say to them about how to improve their game, they’re not going to take that (personally).”

Boyer is part of a young core that VanHook hopes will PS Behrend to championships — sooner if not later. The Lions’ top three scorers are underclassmen. In addition to Boyer, sophomore Rachel Majewski leads the team at 19.9 points per game, and freshman Morgan Altavilla (Baldwin) is at 16.5 points per game.

What makes Boyer’s output a little more impressive is she has done it while learning a new position.

At Knoch, she played exclusively as a guard, a matchup nightmare at the high school level given her height. But when VanHook brought her on board, she immediately told Boyer she would be playing the four spot.

“Whenever I came in this year and coach told me I was going to be playing the four spot, I kind of just laughed,” Boyer said. “I never was post or anything. I never played that position. … I still have a lot to improve on, definitely still trying to perfect the post moves.”

With a strong corps of guards — in addition to Majewski and Altavilla, senior Brianna Dean (Neshannock) averages 8.5 points and a team-leading 3.6 assists — VanHook saw Boyer as a perfect forward. Her guard skills would give her the ability to step outside against bigger players, and her budding in-the-paint moves would allow her to post up smaller defenders.

“So it’s: Who’s going to guard her?” VanHook asked rhetorically. “Is a guard going to guard her? Because now she can post up. Is a post going to guard her? Because now she’s just going to shoot and drive on you.”

And, if needed, VanHook said she wouldn’t hesitate to use Boyer at the two or the three spots. For now, however, her spot remains at the four, and she said is getting more comfortable with each game.

That’s a change from when she arrived on campus. Like a lot of freshmen, she wasn’t sure what to expect from the college game, but her fears quickly were eased and now she and the Lions are barreling toward what they hope is an AMCC title.

“I definitely was nervous coming in as a freshman, not knowing where I was going to stand on the team,” Boyer said. “Coach gave me an opportunity to start during the scrimmages and see how I performed from there.

“I definitely think after the first few games where I was able to put up double-digit points, I think from there it was just a confidence boost and having that mindset. … I just want to keep working on being able to finish inside and being a threat as a shooter.”