Lions Defeat Panthers to Stay Perfect in AMCC
by Christina Roukas
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team improved to 4-0 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference on Saturday by defeating Pitt-Bradford 77-63 in the Adler Arena.
The Lions (7-7, 4-0 AMCC) played excellent defense against the Panthers (2-12, 0-4 AMCC), forcing 20 turnovers, recording 10 steals, and limiting Pitt-Bradford to a 32.1 percent field goal percentage. Penn State Altoona also finished with 60 rebounds as a team, representing the third-most in a game by the Lions in program history.
In the first quarter, Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) put the Lions in the lead with a layup and free throw to make it 7-5. The Lions continued to play great offense, and Sarah Huston (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) made a three-pointer late in the quarter to cap a 25-point period by Penn State Altoona, which resulted in a 25-15 lead.
Pitt-Bradford came back in the second quarter, lowering its deficit to one, 28-27, with 2:41 to play until the break. Huston responded with a layup, followed by back-to-back threes from Emma Kitko (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) to extend the Lions' lead to nine, 36-27, by halftime.
In the third quarter, the Panthers' offense went on a nine-point scoring streak to tie the game, 36-36, by the 7:53 mark. Playing strong defense, Huston stole the ball from the Panthers and drove in for a layup to break the tie, giving Penn State Altoona the lead, 38-36. Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) connected from the three-point line twice in the final 1:30 of the third quarter, helping to make it 53-41 by the period's end.
Once again, Burns scored from the three-point line three minutes into the fourth quarter to give Penn State Altoona a 60-48 lead, and Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) hit a jump shot at 3:15 to keep the Lions up by 10 points, 63-53. Burns made back-to-back threes to make it 71-55, and Huston also connected from the three-point line to increase her team's lead to 74-57 with 1:07 to play. Penn State Altoona shot 100 percent (4-for-4) from three-point range during the fourth quarter, helping the Lions to a 14-point win.
Huston recorded her first collegiate triple-double for Penn State Altoona, scoring 19 points, grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds, and matching her career-high in assists with 10. Burns led all scorers in the game with 23 points, including going 5-for-9 from three-point range.
Sayles secured a season-high 16 rebounds to lead all players, scored 12 points to clinch her seventh double-double of the season, and also nabbed a team-best three steals.
The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team heads back on the road to play against AMCC rival Mount Aloysius College on Wednesday, January 18. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
