BUFFALO, N.Y. – D'Youville College overcame an 11-point third quarter deficit on Saturday afternoon to defeat the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team 62-58 in the College Center Gym.

Penn State Altoona (10-6, 8-4 AMCC) used an impressive defensive effort in the first half to build a 27-19 lead by the intermission, holding D'Youville (11-7, 9-4 AMCC) to a combined 6-for-40 shooting performance from the field during the first and second quarters.

But, trailing 30-19 early in the third quarter, D'Youville put up 25 points in the period and overtook Penn State Altoona's lead, eventually handing the Lady Lions a loss.

"Today was a tough one to lose. D'Youville is a solid team with many threats, but in the first half, we minimized them and fought hard to go into halftime with a lead," said Penn State Altoona head coach Casey Wilt. "However, the caliber of players they have, paired with our struggle to take care of the ball, rebound, and lack of transition defense, proved to bite us in the second half – especially in the fourth, when we turned it over three times in a row down the stretch."

Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) led Penn State Altoona in points and rebounds, finishing with 14 points and eight boards to go along with three assists and two steals. Sydney Snyder (New Enterprise, PA/Northern Bedford) added 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists.

Paige Burk (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) scored 11 points, including going 3-for-5 from three-point range, and she also had four rebounds while leading her team with four assists and two blocks. Finnley Christine (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) recorded 10 points, and she now needs only 10 more points to become Penn State Altoona women's basketball's all-time leading scorer.

Kassidy Sorichetti (Halifax, PA/Halifax) added seven points and four rebounds off the bench.

D'Youville got a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds from Danielle Hore, while Sara Pfeiffer added 18 points and six steals. Haley Kirisits scored 16 points for the home team.

Penn State Altoona started the game on a 5-0 run, following Cannistraci's jump shot and Burk's three-pointer. Christine's layup and Snyder's three-pointer increased the Lady Lions' advantage to 10-3, and a layup by Sarah Huston (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) made it 12-7 with 1:08 left in the first quarter.

Snyder's three-pointer and Sorichetti's layup helped Penn State Altoona to an 18-13 lead by the 6:39 mark of the second quarter, and another basket by Sorichetti shortly thereafter made it 20-15. Penn State Altoona got a layup from Christine, jump shot by Burk, and three free throws from Cannistraci en route to a 27-19 lead by halftime.

Snyder opened the second half by connecting on a three-point shot at 9:46 to give Penn State Altoona a 30-19 lead, its largest of the game. The Lady Lions preserved their 11-point lead with layups from Cannistraci and Christine that made it 34-23 by 7:55.

But D'Youville outscored Penn State Altoona 21-6 over the rest of the quarter, helped by 13 third quarter points from Pfeiffer. Back-to-back three-pointers from Pfeiffer cut the Lady Lions' lead to one, 34-33, by the 5:22 mark, and she followed that up with a layup and another three to give the Lady Spartans a 38-34 lead at 3:19.

Down 44-40 at the start of the fourth quarter, Penn State Altoona tied the score on a three-pointer from Burk and foul shot by Sorichetti. Snyder's three-pointer at 7:24 put the Lady Lions back in front, 47-44. Four minutes later, a Cannistraci three-pointer and Christine layup helped Penn State Altoona to a 55-51 advantage, and Kaley Strittmatter's (Williamsburg, PA/Penn Cambria) basket at 2:34 increased her team's lead to six, 57-51.

But D'Youville posted another big scoring run to finish the game, outscoring the Lady Lions 11-1 over the last 2:16 of the contest. Kirisits jump shot at 1:31 tied the score at 57, and Hore's layup 18 seconds later gave D'Youville a two-point lead. The home team added another basket by Kirisits and a free throw from Pfeiffer, and the Lady Spartans completed their comeback with a four-point win.

"It doesn't matter how we look at it," explained Wilt. "We have to do better, stay composed, and battle for 40 minutes to be successful."

Next, Penn State Altoona women's basketball faces AMCC opponent Franciscan University for an 8:00 p.m. game in Steubenville, Ohio on Wednesday, January 29.