MONACA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was tripped up on the road Friday evening, when the Lions lost 88-79 to USCAA opponent Penn State Beaver at the Beaver Field House.

Penn State Altoona (1-3) again struggled to get off to a strong start, falling behind 19-9 by the end of the opening quarter. The Lions battled back to make it a game, but they were never able to overcome Beaver's (2-1) lead, and the home team finished with a nine-point victory.

Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) put up a game-high 26 points for Penn State Altoona, connecting on 11 of 17 shots from the floor and sinking four foul shots. Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) scored 20 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.

Haley Hicks (Wylie, TX/Wylie East) brought 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Angelina Medina (North Port, FL/North Port) also came off the bench to provide seven points and four assists. Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) tied for the team lead in rebounds and assists with seven and four, respectively, to go along with scoring six points, and Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) also had six points.

Beaver got a game-high 21 points from Claudia Siegfried, while Bailey Rieg scored 16, Cashimere Ralph had 15, and Emery Black put in 12.

Penn State Altoona got its scoring started with a three-pointer from Rusnica at the 8:54 mark of the first quarter, and her layup two minutes later knotted the score at 5-5. After that, Beaver proceeded to score the next eight points before a Sayles jumper at 4:35 put an end to the home team's scoring run. Burns made a layup at 3:27 to put the Lions' deficit at six points, 15-9, but Beaver used a three-pointer from Rieg and foul shot by Black to close the quarter with a 19-9 advantage.

Beaver started the second quarter with a layup to increase their lead to 12 points, but Penn State Altoona closed the gap to three by the 6:22 mark, thanks to two jumpers and two free throws from Hicks and a three-pointer by Rusnica. However, Beaver responded with a 9-0 run that consisted of a layup and foul shot by Enderle and back-to-back treys from Rieg and Siegfried that boosted its advantage back to double digits, 30-19. Sayles scored the next six points to get Penn State Altoona back to within five, and the Lions tied the game at 30-30 following Medina's layup and two free throws and McCracken's foul shot. But Beaver ended the half by outscoring Penn State Altoona 13-1 over the final two minutes, and the home team took a 43-31 advantage into the locker room.

The Lions had their best offensive quarter of the game in the third, when Penn State Altoona put up 29 points and shot 64.7 percent from the floor. After Beaver took a 48-33 lead, its largest of the game, the Lions began to chip away at their deficit. Rusnica drained a three at 7:32 to make it a 12-point difference, at Medina's trey at 4:50 made it an eight-point game, 54-46. Rusnica connected again from long range at 3:46 to cut the Beaver lead to 56-51, and Hicks hit a jumper with 48 seconds left in the quarter to make it 65-60. But the home team got two late baskets from Ralph and finished the period with a 69-60 advantage.

Penn State Altoona was unable to get over the hump in the fourth quarter. Sayles' jump shot and free throw, along with another Rusnica trey, lowered the Beaver lead to 74-66 two minutes into the period. At 6:39, Sayles hit another jumper to make it a nine-point game, 77-68. But Beaver continued to maintain a solid lead over the Lions, and Penn State Altoona ultimately suffered a nine-point loss.

Penn State Altoona women's basketball will travel again for its next game, heading east to face non-conference opponent Gettysburg College on Wednesday, November 20, at 7 p.m.