Women’s Basketball Drops Mountain Valley Opener to RHIT
ALTOONA, Pa. – Hosting the first night of the two-day Mountain Valley Tip-Off Classic on Saturday evening in Adler Arena, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was handed a 59-47 loss by the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
The first half was low-scoring and tightly contested, with RHIT (1-0) hanging on to a 22-20 advantage by halftime. But the Fightin' Engineers expanded their lead with a big third quarter, then fended off a late push from Penn State Altoona (0-4) to seal the win.
Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) led the way for Penn State Altoona with her first collegiate double-double, scoring 19 points and securing 10 rebounds. Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) added seven points, and Sarah Huston (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) also scored seven points to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
RHIT got a game-high 20 points from Mira Rudolph, and Jamie Baum added 16 points.
Two baskets from Sayles and a layup from Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) helped Penn State Altoona work its way out to a 6-2 lead in the first quarter. RHIT came back to tie the game, then took its first lead, 12-11, on a Nola Wilson three-pointer just before the buzzer.
Sayles' three-pointer 35 seconds into the second quarter put the Lions back on top, but an 8-0 run by the Engineers helped the visitors to a 20-14 advantage by the 4:03 mark. A Bisignani jumper, two Huston free throws, and a bucket from Sayles helped Penn State Altoona narrow its deficit to two, and the Lions went into the intermission trailing 22-20.
But RHIT posted a 23-10 scoring advantage over Penn State Altoona in the third quarter. After scores from Burns and Sayles helped tie the score 24-24 a minute into the period, the Engineers embarked on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to go up 34-24. Three-pointers by Baum helped RHIT to a 13-point lead, and a layup from Wilson with 52 seconds left in the quarter gave the visiting squad a 45-30 advantage.
Penn State Altoona put together an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to cut into the RHIT lead. Sayles' jumper and Jaidyn McCracken's (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) layup started the run, and two Burns free throws and a Sayles basket trimmed the Engineers' lead to 49-41 with 4:38 to play. McCracken's layup 28 seconds later kept the difference at eight points, 51-43.
But RHIT boosted its lead back into double digits over the closing minutes, putting any hopes of a comeback by the Lions to rest.
Penn State Altoona returns to action tomorrow, Sunday, November 20, for the second and final day of the Mountain Valley Tip-Off Classic. Sunday's action shifts to Mount Aloysius College, where the Lions will take on Keuka College in a 1:00 p.m. game.
Notes: In Saturday's opening game, Keuka defeated Mount Aloysius 62-52.
