PITTSBURGH – For the second consecutive game, Penn State Altoona sophomore forward Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) set a new single-game scoring record for her team, but the No. 3 seed Lions women's basketball team still lost its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference semifinal round matchup with No. 2 Penn State Behrend on Friday, falling 76-69 at La Roche's Kerr Center.

Sayles led all scorers in the game with a career-high 35 points, establishing a new Penn State Altoona women's basketball record for the most points scored in a game in program history. It marks the second game in a row that Sayles has set the school's single-game scoring record, as she put up a then-record 33 points in Tuesday night's first-round AMCC Tournament victory over Pitt-Bradford.

Penn State Altoona (15-12) fell behind by 10 points at halftime, then trailed Penn State Behrend (18-7) by as many as 21 points later in the second half. The Lions got back to within seven in the fourth quarter, but Penn State Altoona's comeback fell short as time expired.

Sayles secured a game-high 17 rebounds to go along with her 35 points, representing her ninth double-double of the season. Her total of 17 made field goals also sets a new Penn State Altoona single-game record in that category. At the conclusion of the game, Sayles was chosen to the AMCC All-Tournament team for her performance during the league's playoffs this week.

Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) added 13 points, six rebounds, and two steals for the Lions, while Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored 10 points and distributed four assists.

Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) grabbed eight rebounds for Penn State Altoona, and Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) dished out a game-best six assists. Camryn Figard (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg) provided six points off the bench.

Penn State Behrend was led in scoring by Rachel Majewski, who finished with 22 points. Morgan Altavilla had 15 points, and Rachel Kaulis scored 12.

Penn State Altoona found itself down by just two points by the end of a high-scoring first quarter that saw both teams combine for 46 points. Sayles put the game's first points on the board with a jumper at 8:47, and a Green free throw, Sayles bucket, and McCracken layup helped the Lions to a 7-4 lead by 6:05. Back-to-back layups from Green set Penn State Altoona's lead at 11-6 midway through the period, and a Sayles layup and free throw at 3:30 made it 14-10. After Behrend made it a one-point game on Julia Balaski's three-pointer, McCracken's jump shot at the 3-minute mark put Penn State Altoona's lead at 16-13. Behrend tied the score at 16 with a Madilyn Boyer three-pointer at 2:18, then jumped ahead by two on Majewski's layup five seconds later. Baskets from Burns, Figard, and Sayles evened the score at 22-22 by the waning seconds of the quarter, but two Altavilla foul shots helped Behrend to a 24-22 advantage at the period's end.

Behrend expanded its lead in the second quarter by outscoring Penn State Altoona 20-12 in the period. Two baskets from Sayles and a Burns jump shot helped the Lions go up 28-26 early in the quarter, and Burns' bucket at 6:39 knotted the score at 30-30. But Behrend went on an 8-0 run, capped by Altavilla's jumper at 2:22 that made it 38-30. Behrend got scores from Kaulis and Altavilla in the final 35 seconds of the quarter to increase its advantage to 10 points, and Penn State Altoona went into the intermission down 44-34.

Behrend continued to grow its lead during the third quarter, starting the period on a 10-2 run to put the Lions at an 18-point deficit, 54-36, by the 6:11 mark. Sayles' jump shot at 2:29 got Penn State Altoona back to within 15, 60-45, and her layup at the end of the quarter made it a 14-point difference, 63-49.

Behrend came out strong again to start the fourth quarter, outscoring Penn State Altoona 9-2 through the 7:42 mark and taking its largest lead of the game, 72-51, after a Kaulis jumper. The Lions scored the next six points on a pair of baskets from Sayles and a layup from McCracken, making it a 15-point game again by 5:50. McCracken's three-pointer at 2:57 kept the difference at 15 points, 76-61, before a Sayles jump shot and two Burns free throws lowered Penn State Altoona's deficit to 11 points, 76-65, with 1:15 to go. Sayles' layup with 53 seconds left brought the Lions back to within single digits, and two more Burns foul shots with 10 seconds remaining made it a seven-point game, 76-69.

Penn State Altoona outscored Behrend 11-0 over the game's final 2:57, but the Lions' late push was ended by the final buzzer, as Behrend outlasted Altoona to move on to the AMCC championship game tomorrow, Saturday, February 24, against top seed La Roche.

Penn State Altoona ended Friday's game with statistical advantages over Behrend in rebounds (41-37), assists (21-10), and fastbreak points (11-4). But the Lions finished minus-6 in turnovers and struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just two of 14 attempts from three-point range.

Penn State Altoona women's basketball finishes its season with a 15-12 overall record. The Lions' total of 15 wins is the team's most since the 2009-10 season, when it finished with 20 overall wins. Additionally, Penn State Altoona's 11 AMCC wins this season was the program's most since the 2019-20 season, when it totaled 12 conference victories.