ALFRED, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team withstood a late rally by Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Alfred State College on Saturday to prevail 58-53 in the Orvis Gymnasium.

Penn State Altoona (10-10, 7-3 AMCC) led by 16 points early in the fourth quarter, before Alfred State (5-14, 2-8 AMCC) charged back to get within two points in the closing seconds. But the Lions got a late defensive stand and iced the victory with free throws in the final moments of the contest.

Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) led all scorers with a season-high 20 points for Penn State Altoona to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored 16 points and tied for the game-high in assists with five, and Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) added 10 points and eight rebounds. Emily Munson (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Regional) posted team-highs with 11 rebounds and three steals.

Alfred State got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Taylor Benjamin, along with 10 points and 16 rebounds from Faith McCombs. Calesta Reigelman contributed 12 points and five helpers for the Pioneers.

Penn State Altoona opened the game with a five-point lead, but Alfred State came out on top by the end of a low-scoring first quarter. A layup and three-pointer from Burns helped the Lions to a 5-0 lead by the 6:47 mark. After the Pioneers evened the score at 5-5 a minute later, layups from McCracken and Sayles put the visitors back in front, 9-5, with 4:31 to go in the period. But the Pioneers knotted things up again on a Benjamin layup at 3:16 that made it 9-9, and after a Munson free throw put the Lions up by one, Jenna George's jumper put Alfred State ahead by one, 11-10.

The second quarter followed a similar script, with both teams combining for 22 points, but Penn State Altoona was able to work its way to a lead by the intermission. McCracken's three-pointer and layup represented the first points of the quarter for the Lions, helping them to a 15-12 advantage, and Munson's layup and Emma Kitko's (Houtzdale, PA/Moshannon Valley) jump shot made it 19-14 by the 3:54 mark. A late three-pointer by Benjamin put Alfred State on top 21-19, but McCracken answered with a trey of her own to put Penn State Altoona up 22-21 just before the end of the half.

The Lions came out hot in the second half, outscoring Alfred State 21-9 during the third quarter to lead by 13 points at the period's end. McCracken continued her outside shooting success, hitting back-to-back threes to start the quarter and give Penn State Altoona a 28-21 lead. Two McCracken foul shots and a Lainie Treece (Everett, PA/Everett) basket boosted the Lions' lead to 10 points, 32-22, midway through the quarter, and three-pointers from Burns and Kitko kept their team's advantage at nine points, 38-29, with 2:35 left in the period. A Camryn Figard (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) layup and Burns three-pointer capped the scoring in the quarter, and the Lions proceeded to the fourth holding a 43-30 lead.

Two baskets from Sayles early in the fourth quarter grew Penn State Altoona's lead to 16 points, making it 47-31 with 8:35 to go. Alfred State began to chip away at its deficit, however, and a 12-0 run by the Pioneers trimmed the Lions' 16-point advantage to a four-point difference, 47-43, by the 5:25 mark. The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, as Alfred State remained within four points of the Penn State Altoona lead. After two Burns foul shots at the 38-second mark made it 53-47, Reigelman connected on a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to cut the Lions' lead to just three. Following a quick foul, Burns sank two more free throws to make it 55-50, but Benjamin drained a three-pointer in the Pioneers' next possession to make it a two-point game, 55-53. The Pioneers fouled quickly again, and Burns made one of her two attempts from the line to get the Lions' lead back to three points. But Penn State Altoona prevented Alfred State from coming up with the tying points in its next possession, when a Pioneers' three-point attempt failed to connect and a turnover was committed after an offensive rebound. Sayles went to the free throw line after another Alfred State foul, and she made both of her attempts to tack two more points on to the Lions' total and close out the game.

Penn State Altoona women's basketball will hit the road again for its next contest, as the Lions will travel on Wednesday, February 8 to take on AMCC foe Pitt-Greensburg in a game tipping off at 7:00 p.m.