by McKenzie Quirin

GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team headed back on the road Wednesday night, where they were unable to dig out of their early hole against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Greensburg, falling 65-56 at Chambers Hall Gymnasium.

Penn State Altoona (9-9, 6-5 AMCC) got on the board first as Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) scored a three-pointer early, but Pitt-Greensburg (8-10, 6-5 AMCC) quickly created a big deficit for the Lions, who trailed by 21 points going into halftime.

Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) and Bisignani ended the Lions' loss with double-digit points. Sayles finished with 17 points while grabbing nine rebounds and adding one assist and two steals, while Bisignani scored 11 points to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) led all players in the game in rebounds, securing 13 boards.

Melina Maietta scored 18 points for Pitt-Greensburg in their victory, while Tiana Moracco finished with 11 points.

Penn State Altoona got off to an early start, but Pitt-Greensburg capitalized by running up a five-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Bisignani's three-pointer at 9:54 provided the Lions with their first points of the game, giving them a 3-0 lead. However, the home team quickly put up a jump shot and layup to take the lead by one. After a free throw by Bisignani tied the game up at four at the 8:20 mark, Pitt-Greensburg ran up a lead of 7-4, as Sarah Penrod made a three-point jump shot. With back and forth scoring opportunities, Penn State Altoona and Pitt-Greensburg managed to tie the game four times in the first. Down 15-13, the Lions kept the game within two, as that score remained for exactly one minute and 14 seconds before an Emily Munson (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Regional) basket tied the score at 15-15. But a Moracco three-pointer and Anna Durbin layup for Pitt-Greensburg put their lead at 20-15 as the first quarter ended.

Sayles and the Lions scored off the start of the second, when she put in a jump shot and cut their deficit to three, down 20-17. The next eight minutes were all Pitt-Greensburg as they piled on the points, extending their lead to 39-17, putting the Lions' deficit at 22. Jaidyn McCracken's (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) three-pointer added three to the Lions' score, although they were still down 39-20. Pitt-Greensburg finished the second quarter with a late layup by Kaylee George, and the Bobcats were up 41-20 at the half.

After the half, Sayles made a jump shot at the 9:37 mark, as the Lions trailed 41-22. A couple of free throws by Maietta put Pitt-Greensburg ahead by 21, and Maietta quickly added another layup to increase the score to 23. Green's layup and free throw helped the Lions gain momentum, but that was lost when Pitt-Greensburg eclipsed 50 points before the third wound down. With exactly two minutes left, Pitt-Greensburg was up 19, just after Penn State Altoona's Green connected on a jump shot. A Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) three-point jump shot put the Lions' total at 35 points, and after Bisignani and Pitt-Greensburg's Jordan Bass traded free throws late in the quarter, the Bobcats ended the period with a 54-36 lead.

Sayles opened the scoring with a jump shot as the fourth quarter started, as Penn State Altoona remained down at 54-38. Green got the Lions within 14 points on her layup, but Pitt-Greensburg increased their lead to 56-40 by putting up two more points. At the 4:14 mark, Maietta's layup helped Pitt-Greensburg surpass 60 points, putting Penn State Altoona down 60-45. Durbin added a point to the score for Pitt-Greensburg, and the Bobcats' 61-45 lead remained for the next minute and 19 seconds. After Pitt-Greensburg put in a jump shot by Bass, the Lions got a three-pointer from Lexi Colaianni (Pittsburgh, PA/Kiski Area). As time clocked down, another three-pointer from Colaianni cut Penn State Altoona's deficit to 10, as they trailed 63-53 with 40 seconds left in the game. The Lions got one more three-pointer from Colaianni before the buzzer, but Penn State Altoona finished the game against Pitt-Greensburg with a loss, 65-56.

Next up, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team returns home Saturday, January 27, when they will face first-year AMCC opponent Wells College starting at 2 p.m.