by Casey Burinskas

PITTSBURGH – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was on the road to face Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Carlow University Thursday night, and the Lions took a tough loss by a final score of 65-56.

Penn State Altoona (10-12, 7-6 AMCC) worked its way out to a 27-23 lead at the end of a low scoring first half. But Carlow (11-9, 9-4 AMCC) outscored the Lions 15-8 in the third quarter to take the lead, and the Celtics went on to hand Penn State Altoona the conference loss.

Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) scored a team-high 16 points for the Lions while adding five rebounds, two assists, and one block. Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) added nine points and seven rebounds, while Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) chipped in eight points.

Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) posted team highs for Penn State Altoona with 12 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks to go along with seven points. Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) also scored seven points, and Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) brought five points off the bench while dishing out a team-best six assists.

Three Carlow players had double-doubles, led by Sydney Carr, who led all players in the game with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Nina Cano had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics, and Emari Stinnette finished with 15 points and 10 boards for the home team.

In the first quarter, Green scored a layup with an assist coming from Sayles, which preceded McCracken putting up a three-pointer to start the Lions with a 5-1 lead. With a foul against Carlow, McCracken also sank two free throws. Later in the quarter, Bisignani made a layup that gave the Lions the lead again after being tied at 7-7. Rusnica came in with a jump shot at 2:09, and the Lions finished with a lead of 12-9 after a low scoring first quarter.

In the second quarter, McCracken scored her team's first points with a layup, followed by Burns right after with her first points of the game on another layup. Burns finding the basket for a three-pointer helped Altoona stay ahead of the Celtics by four points, 21-17. Layups by Sayles and Rusnica made it 25-20, and Rakaya Cooper (East Orange, NJ/East Orange) scored the final points of the half for Altoona with a late jump shot to put the Lions up 27-23.

Coming out of the half, Carlow worked its way into the lead while the Lions' offense stood at a standstill until the 6:47 mark, where Sayles made a jump shot. Later, Bisignani sank a three-pointer, and to close out the quiet third quarter, Burns made another three with an assist from Bisignani that trimmed Carlow's lead to 38-35 by the end of the period.

Starting the fourth quarter, Rusnica made a jump shot, then she also made a three-pointer to keep the game close. Cooper sealed a layup with an assist from Bisignani with 6:29 left in the game, tying the score at 44-44. With Carlow starting to pull away, leading 53-44, a foul against the Celtics helped Altoona with two free throws made by McCracken. Steals by Sayles and Bisignani helped set up layups made by Green and Rusnica, cutting Carlow's lead to 55-50 with 2:21 remaining. On an assist from Burns, Green was able to make another layup and a free throw with 1:05 left, but ultimately, Carlow closed out the game to hand the Lions a 65-56 loss.

Next up, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will be home against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Alfred State College this Saturday, February 15, at 3 p.m. Prior to tipoff, the Lions will celebrate Jordan Bisignani in a Senior Day ceremony.