Women’s Basketball Tops Pitt-Greensburg in AMCC Opener
by Casey Burinskas
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State Altoona women's basketball played Pitt-Greensburg on Wednesday night in Adler Arena in the teams' first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference matchup of the season, and the Lions came away with a 78-61 victory.
Penn State Altoona (3-3, 1-0 AMCC) came out strong, jumping out to a 27-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Lions held off Pitt-Greensburg (1-4, 0-1 AMCC) the rest of the way to win by 17 points.
Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) was strong on the boards for Penn State Altoona, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds through the four quarters. Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) had the highest scoring total of the game with 22 points, all of which came during the first half, to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, and a block. Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) finished close behind with 21 points while adding nine rebounds and two blocks.
Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) scored 14 points for the Lions, and Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) had 11 points with three assists.
Pitt-Greensburg got a game-high 26 points from Melina Maietta, and Tiana Moracco finished with 13 points.
In the first quarter, the Lions were able to start off with a 12-0 lead over the first six minutes, including points coming in from Sayles making two jump shots and a steal and basket from McCracken to give the Lions an 8-0 lead. With a layup from Green, the Lions pulled into double digits, and McCracken's layup made it 12-0. To end the first quarter, McCracken put up a buzzer-beating three-pointer that gave Penn State Altoona a 27-5 lead.
Sayles started off the second quarter with a layup, and Burns' three-point jump shot set the Lions' lead at 32-12 by 7:47. With under two minutes left in the quarter, McCracken made a three-pointer on an assist from Green to make it 43-24, and the first half ended with Penn State Altoona ahead 43-25.
Starting off the third quarter, Bisignani put up a three-pointer, followed by a jump shot by Burns to give the Lions a stronger lead. Bisignani was able to pull in seven more points, scoring a layup, three-pointer, and jump shot to help bring the Lions' lead to 56-31. By the end of the third quarter, the Lions still led, 58-43.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Lions picked up two points on free throws from Burns. Pitt-Greensburg came back to make it a three-point game, 62-59, but a Bisignani three-pointer and Sayles layup helped Penn State Altoona hold on to its lead, 67-59. After a basket and two foul shots from Sayles, Burns added to the score with a three-pointer at 2:33 to put the Lions' lead at 74-59. Penn State Altoona put up a total of 20 points in the fourth quarter to end the game at 78-61. The Lions held a lead over the Bobcats for the entirety of the game to pull out their third win of the season and first AMCC victory of the year.
Next, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will battle AMCC foe Hilbert College this Saturday, December 2 at 1 p.m.
