Women’s Basketball Beats Rival Mounties 56-50
by Christina Roukas
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona women's basketball beat Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Mount Aloysius College 56-50 on Wednesday night in Adler Arena.
This is the fourth win of the season for the Lions (4-13, 3-7 AMCC), including their third AMCC victory and second win in a row.
The Mounties (2-13, 2-6 AMCC) started the first period of the game by getting out to an 11-5 lead. But Penn State Altoona came back from its six-point deficit to tie the game 11-11 on a Megan Hartman (Claysburg, PA/Claysburg-Kimmel) three-pointer at 1:52. In the final ten seconds of the quarter, the Lions broke the tie on an Ellie Matthews (Kennett Square, PA/Kennett) layup to lead by two points, 13-11.
The Lions continued to lead through the end of the second quarter. For the first four minutes of the period, both teams held the score at 13-11. Penn State Altoona played excellent defense against the Mounties, holding them without a made field goal in the quarter, and the Lions eventually went up by eight, 19-11, with five minutes left. The Mounties came back to narrow the score to 19-17 by halftime, putting up six points in the final minutes of the half.
In the first 30 seconds of the third quarter, Mount Aloysius tied the score 19-19 and broke the tie with a three-pointer at 9:07. Penn State Altoona grabbed the lead back on Alexis Cannistraci's (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) layup at 4:46, but Mounties' offense answered to tie the game 29-29 by 1:25. Penn State Altoona put up five points on a Hartman three-pointer and Cannistraci jump shot to end the third quarter up 34-29.
Penn State Altoona kept its lead during a high-scoring fourth quarter in which the two teams combined for 43 points. Matthews' layup three minutes into the period put the Lions up 40-33, and Sarah Huston (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) made a layup and foul shot halfway through the quarter to make it 43-35. Late free throws from Hartman and Huston helped the Lions come out victorious by the end of the period, 56-50.
Penn State Altoona's Huston and Matthews both had a team-high 14 points. Huston also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, and Matthews finished with 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.
Cannistraci had a total of 12 points while adding six rebounds and a team-high three blocks. Hartman scored eight points and had three steals for the Lions.
Mount Aloysius got 14 points from Cameron Bates and Carly Stigers.
The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team's next game is away against AMCC opponent Pitt-Bradford on Saturday, January 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
