by Casey Burinskas

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was on the road Wednesday night to face off against No. 15 Gettysburg College, and the Lions suffered an 84-48 loss to the Bullets in the Bream Gym.

Penn State Altoona (1-4) hung around in the first half and found itself down 37-25 by halftime. But Gettysburg (4-0) broke the game open in the third quarter, when they outscored the Lions 33-12, and the Bullets never looked back.

The Lions got a team-high 15 points from Allyana Stephens (Johnstown, PA/Bishop McCort), while Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored 11 points. Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) scored eight points.

Gettysburg's Alayna Arnolie led all scorers in the game with 32 points.

In the first quarter, McCracken was the first Lion to get points on the board when she put up a three-pointer. Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) was next, placing in two jump shots, before three-pointers by McCracken and Rusnica closed out the scoring for Altoona in the quarter, with the Lions falling behind 20-13 by the end of the period.

Starting the second quarter, Burns landed a driving layup to give Altoona 15 points, and she later hit a three-pointer that made it an eight-point difference with Gettysburg, 26-18. Rusnica made a three-pointer to close the gap to only seven, 28-21, with 4:55 left on the clock. After a timeout called by Altoona, Burns was able to connect on a jumper, and Stephens made a layup to bring the Lions within five, 30-25. But Gettysburg scored seven points to end the quarter, and after a late missed three-pointer by the Lions, the half ended with Altoona trailing by a score of 37-25.

The third quarter started off with McCracken coming in strong and landing a three-pointer nine seconds into the period. Burns was able to put up two points on free throws, followed by Rusnica making a jump shot. Stephens put up a three-pointer on an assist from Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township), and Stephens later scored two more points on free throws to give Altoona its final points of the quarter. But Gettysburg outscored the Lions 33-12 overall in the third quarter and took a 70-37 lead into the fourth.

Coming into the final quarter, Burns made an early jump shot and Stephens hit her second three-pointer of the game. Later, Stephens landed a hook shot and Addi Schirato (Salix, PA/Forest Hills) scored a free throw. Stephens was able to make one more three-pointer for Altoona with 53 seconds to go, but after a rough second half, the Lions ultimately lost by a score of 84-48.

Next up, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will be at home for the first time this season when the Lions host Penn College this Saturday, November 23, at 3 p.m.