#3 Penn State Altoona routed #6 Pitt-Bradford 94-50 in women's basketball first round action, while #5 Mount Aloysius College earned the 88-73 upset victory over #4 Pitt-Greensburg to advance to the semifinal round of the AMCC championship tournament, which will be played Friday afternoon at La Roche University.
Penn State Altoona 94, Pitt-Bradford 50
The No. 3 seed Penn State Altoona women's basketball team faced off against No. 6 seed Pitt-Bradford in a first-round game and the Lions put together a dominant 94-50 victory to move on in the playoffs. Penn State Altoona's win was powered by a team record-setting performance from sophomore Avana Sayles, who set a new Lions' single-game scoring record with 33 points. In addition to being Tuesday night's leading scorer with 33 points, Sayles also brought in a game-high 13 rebounds to notch her eighth double-double of the season. Raniyah Green and Jess Burns both carried 14 points for Altoona, with Green adding four rebounds and Burns totaling three assists. Jordan Bisignani held a total of 12 points and had six rebounds, while Jaidyn McCracken had 10 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season while distributing a game-high five assists.
As a team, Penn State Altoona's total of 94 points ties for the seventh-most in a game in program history.
With its win, Penn State Altoona (15-11) advances to the AMCC Tournament semifinal round and will play No. 2 seed Penn State Behrend this Friday, February 23 at 3 p.m. at La Roche University, which is hosting the final two rounds of the conference postseason.
Mount Aloysius 88, Pitt-Greensburg 73
A 23-point, 23 rebound double-double and a 28-point, six rebound performances by Mount Aloysius top two players in freshman Molly Kosmack and Jade Love-Morris proved to be too much for the Bobcats women's basketball team in the first round of the AMCC Playoffs. The Mounties did not miss a shot in the final frame until halfway through the quarter on their way to a 29 points fourth quarter to beat the Bobcats 88-73.
The Mounties scored 53 points in the second half with 22 field goals and eight three pointers to take down the Bobcats. Mount Aloysius shot 50 percent from the floor and from the three-point line.
Mount Aloysius will now advance to the women's basketball semifinals, as they are set to take on #1 seed and host La Roche University on Friday at 1:00pm.