Women’s Basketball Suffers First Loss to Lycoming
by Casey Burinskas
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team played a close game against Lycoming College on Wednesday night in the Adler Arena, but the Warriors came out on top, 75-73, to give the Lions their first loss of the season.
Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) led the Lions (2-1) with a game-high total of 24 points to go along with six rebounds. Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) followed closely behind with 20 points in the game and a team-leading seven rebounds and five assists. Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) scored 11 points.
Lycoming (2-1) got 20 points and 10 rebounds from Emily Lockard, as well as 14 points from Meghan Dufner.
In the first quarter, the Lions were able to start off by pulling ahead strongly. Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) was able to make a three-pointer at 7:06, helping bring her team to a 7-2 lead. Lycoming was able to tie the game back up at 11-11, but Altoona's McCracken followed through with a layup to add two to the score and help the Lions grab the lead again, 13-11. With only 12 seconds left on clock, Bisignani added to the score with a three-pointer, giving the Lions a lead by the end of the first quarter, 18-16.
In the second, Penn State Altoona started off slowly, while Lycoming got out to a 34-22 lead. The Lions were able to put up points with the help of Sayles' layup and free throw, getting Penn State Altoona back to within 34-28. Rakaya Cooper (East Orange, NJ/East Orange) was able to make a layup to add two points to the standing score, but the Lions fell behind 40-32 by halftime.
In the third quarter, the Lions still trailed Lycoming, but they were able to pull in some points. A layup by Sayles on an assist from Burns made it 47-36 at 4:26, and a McCracken steal led to her layup at 2:23 to make it 49-42. Cooper made a free throw late in the quarter, but the Lions ultimately trailed by 10 points, 55-45, by the end of the period.
Down at the start of the fourth quarter, the Lions soon showed that they were not going to trail for long. Points were put up quickly on three-pointers by McCracken and Chelsea McCaulsky (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) to make the score 55-51, Lycoming. McCracken put up another three-pointer to bring the score to 61-60, having the Lions trail by one point with 4:10 left in the fourth quarter. It was not long before McCaulsky was able to land another three-pointer and tie the game at 63-63 with only 3:10 remaining. But despite late three-pointers from Sayles and Bisignani, as well as a buzzer-beating three from McCaulsky at the end of the quarter, Penn State Altoona ultimately was unable to catch Lycoming, and the game ended at 75-73 in favor of the Warriors.
Next, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will play Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pa. on Tuesday, November 21 at 6 p.m.
