GREENSBURG, Pa. – The sixth-seeded Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was unable to dig itself out of an early hole in Tuesday night's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference first round game, losing 64-52 to third seed Pitt-Greensburg in the Chambers Hall Gym.

The Lions (7-18) trailed 14-5 after the first quarter and went behind by as many as 15 points during the second half. Penn State Altoona battled back, closing the gap to as little as five points early in the fourth quarter, but Pitt-Greensburg (19-5) maintained the lead the rest of the way to earn the win and advance in the tournament.

With its victory, Pitt-Greensburg moves on to the AMCC Tournament semifinal round, where it will face second seed Penn State Behrend this Friday, February 25 at La Roche University. Penn State Altoona's season comes to an end with the loss.

Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) produced her third double-double of the season with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, and she also contributed three assists, one steal, and one block. Cannistraci's block moved her into sole possession of first place in the Penn State Altoona women's basketball program's all-time blocks list, passing former Lion Moira Corrigan (2011-15) and her previous record of 137 to establish a new mark with 138.

Ellie Matthews (Kennett Square, PA/Kennett) added 12 points and four rebounds off the bench, and Emily Marines (Nanty Glo, PA/Blacklick Valley) brought seven points off the bench.

Sarah Huston (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) distributed a game-high seven assists, tallied a team-best three steals, and also finished with nine rebounds and six points. Emma Kitko (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) contributed five points and two steals, and Megan Hartman (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) chipped in five rebounds, three points, and two steals.

Pitt-Greensburg's Nadege Durand led all players with 26 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Melina Maietta added 20 points for the Bobcats, and Shaquoia McCray tied Cannistraci for the game-high in rebounds with 11.

Pitt-Greensburg grabbed a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and kept Penn State Altoona off of the scoreboard until Cannistraci's jumper at 3:37. The Bobcats increased their lead to 12-2 on Durand's layup with just under a minute left in the period, but Cannistraci connected from three-point range with 14 seconds remaining to make it 12-5. However, Leeann Harris' basket in the closing seconds of the quarter set Pitt-Greensburg's lead at 14-5.

The home team held a double-digit lead for much of the second quarter, but Penn State Altoona was still able to hang around by the end of the half. Maddie Sitler's jumper at 7:08 increased Pitt-Greensburg's advantage to 12 points, 20-8, and two Durand free throws at 3:07 kept the difference at 12, 24-12. The Lions outscored the Bobcats 7-3 the rest of the way, bringing their deficit back down into single digits by halftime. Two Cannistraci foul shots trimmed the Pitt-Greensburg lead to 24-14 at 1:51, and her three-pointer at the 54-second mark made it 24-17. Maietta answered with a trey of her own 21 seconds later, but a late jump shot from Kitko kept Penn State Altoona within eight, 27-19, by the intermission.

Pitt-Greensburg grew its lead in the first part of the third quarter, eventually going up by 15 points at the 5:45 mark on two Maietta free throws that made it 36-21. But Penn State Altoona unleashed a 14-5 run over the rest of the quarter to make it a six-point game. Cannistraci's jumper and layups from Huston and Marines got Penn State Altoona to within 12, and Marines' three-pointer at 2:42 cut the Pitt-Greensburg lead to 39-30. One minute later, another Marines basket decreased the Bobcats' lead to seven, and Hartman's three-pointer with eight seconds left in the quarter got Penn State Altoona to within six, 41-35.

At 9:46 of the fourth quarter, a Cannistraci free throw lowered Pitt-Greensburg's lead to just five, 41-36. But the Bobcats used a 7-2 run to reestablish a double-digit lead, as Durand's jumper at 6:45 boosted the home team's advantage to 48-38. Matthews' jumper at 4:17 made it an eight-point game, 52-44, and Kitko hit a three-pointer at 2:34 to bring her team to within seven, 54-47. But Pitt-Greensburg outscored the Lions 10-5 the rest of the way, finishing the game with a 12-point win.