BRADFORD, Pa. – Penn State Altoona women's basketball earned a hard-fought Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference road win on Saturday, defeating Pitt-Bradford 81-64 in the KOA Arena.

The Lady Lions (8-4, 6-2 AMCC) found themselves in a tightly-contested game through three quarters, but they were able to pull away in the fourth quarter to secure a 17-point victory.

"This is a good road win," said Penn State Altoona head coach Casey Wilt. "It was downright ugly at times, but the ladies remained composed and took care of things."

Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) recorded her team-high fifth double-double of the season for Penn State Altoona, leading all players in the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Sydney Snyder (New Enterprise, PA/Northern Bedford) added 19 points, five rebounds, two steals, and a block.

"Lex and Syd played a lot of minutes today," said Wilt. "They were our glue, especially in moments when we got a little sidetracked."

Sarah Huston (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) scored 14 points off the bench for the Lady Lions while grabbing five rebounds and tying for team-highs with four assists and two steals. Kaley Strittmatter (Williamsburg, PA/Penn Cambria) contributed 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Paige Burk (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) finished with nine points, four assists, and a team-best two blocks. Kassidy Sorichetti (Halifax, PA/Halifax) secured eight rebounds to go along with four points and three assists, and Finnley Christine (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) chipped in four points and three assists.

"Kass and Sarah gave us excellent minutes off the bench. Both provided a spark on the defensive and offensive ends," said Wilt. "Kass picked up a big offensive board and got fouled on the put-back. That play was big for us."

Pitt-Bradford (2-12, 2-5 AMCC) was led in scoring by Shaelyn Snipes, who finished with 17 points. Shirleah Ragin scored 13 points to go along with nine rebounds, five steals, and four assists, and Taylor Sutryk brought 10 points off the bench.

Penn State Altoona opened the game on an 8-0 run, en route to an 11-2 advantage. Back-to-back baskets from Strittmatter preceded a jumper from Cannistraci, layup by Christine, and three-pointer from Burk that gave the Lady Lions a nine-point lead by the 7:33 mark. Pitt-Bradford tightened the score midway through the quarter, but a three-pointer from Snyder, jump shots from Cannistraci and Huston, and free throws from Christine worked the Lady Lions' lead back to seven, 23-16, by the period's end.

Another three-pointer from Snyder and a layup from Huston propelled Penn State Altoona to a 10-point lead, 28-18, two minutes into the second quarter. A Strittmatter layup and Huston trey extended the Lady Lions' advantage to 33-20 by 6:39. Pitt-Bradford whittled its deficit to seven points late in the quarter, following a pair of three-pointers from Sutryk and a layup by Ragin that trimmed Penn State Altoona's lead to 37-30 at 3:37.  But the Lady Lions responded with a layup from Cannistraci, three-pointer from Burk, and jumper from Snyder that helped the team to a 44-35 lead by halftime.

The home squad continued to hang around, and the Lady Panthers closed the gap during the third quarter. Pitt-Bradford started the second half on an 8-0 run, including Snipes' layup at 6:14 that brought them to within one point, 44-43. Jenna Hicks' layup kept the difference at one a minute later, and Sutryk's foul shot at 4:57 tied the score, 46-46. After Penn State Altoona reclaimed the lead, Pitt-Bradford got a three-pointer from Snipes at 3:28 to knot the score again, 51-51.

"We started the game out great, going on an 8-0 run to start. It was one of our strongest starts yet," said Wilt. "However, Bradford battled back and got us backpedaling throughout the first half and even more so in the third quarter."

Penn State Altoona finished the period strong, however, outscoring Pitt-Bradford 9-2 to provide some breathing room. Over the final 3:17 of the third quarter, Strittmatter made three free throws and Sorichetti sank two, while Huston and Cannistraci each hit jump shots.

Pitt-Bradford pushed back early in the fourth quarter, narrowing the score differential to 64-60 by the 6:50 mark following layups from Hicks and La'Shyra Williams. But Penn State Altoona boosted its lead back to 10 points, 70-60, following six straight points on baskets from Cannistraci and Huston, along with foul shots from Strittmatter and Sorichetti. Cannistraci's layup at 2:37 kept Penn State Altoona's lead at 10, 72-62.

Snyder iced the win for the Lady Lions, providing her team's final nine points of the game. In the final 1:54 of the contest, Snyder went 6-for-6 at the free throw line while also connecting from three-point range at the 48-second mark.

Penn State Altoona finished the game with statistical advantages over Pitt-Bradford in many categories, including rebounds (46-44), assists (21-14), turnovers (16-18), points off turnovers (18-12), second chance points (17-6), points in the paint (26-20), and fastbreak points (9-8).

"I can't express how proud I am of this group. After our loss at Hilbert, they certainly could have folded and hung their heads," Wilt explained. "But this group is determined and responded to another challenge."

Next up, Lady Lions basketball will make its return to the Adler Arena on Saturday, January 18 at 4:00 p.m. against AMCC opponent Penn State Behrend.