Women’s Basketball Tops Hilbert in Commanding Fashion
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team used a dominant performance to record its sixth Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win of the season, as the Lions defeated visiting league foe Hilbert College 64-41 on Saturday afternoon in Adler Arena.
Penn State Altoona (9-9, 6-3 AMCC) limited Hilbert to single-digit points in the first and second quarters, en route to the Lions building a 35-17 halftime lead. Penn State Altoona went on to lead by as many as 27 points to finish with a comfortable win.
The Lions held Hilbert (1-17, 1-8 AMCC) to a 31.0 percent field goal percentage, and they forced the Hawks into committing 25 turnovers. As a team, Penn State Altoona blocked nine shots, tying for the fourth-most blocks in a game in team history.
Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) led the way for Penn State Altoona with game-high totals of 22 points, seven rebounds, six steals, and six blocks. Sayles' total of six blocks tied the Lions' single-game blocks record.
Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) added 13 points and a game-best four assists. Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) chipped in nine points while tying Sayles for the game high in rebounds with seven. Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored eight points, and Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) contributed seven points, five rebounds, and three blocks.
Hilbert got 13 points and seven rebounds from Kelsey Schlagenhauf, while Mackenzie Catan added 11 points and six rebounds for the Hawks.
Penn State Altoona led by nine after a first quarter in which the Lions outscored Hilbert 17-8. Two baskets from Sayles and one bucket apiece from Rusnica and Green made it 8-0 by 6:50, and Sayles' layup and foul shot 29 seconds later put her team's advantage at 11-0. Layups from McCracken and Rakaya Cooper (East Orange, NJ/East Orange) upped the lead to 15-1, and free throws from Rusnica and Sayles made it 17-4 with 1:23 remaining in the period. Hilbert got a pair of foul shots from Schlagenhauf late in the quarter, and Penn State Altoona went into the second with a 17-8 advantage.
Layups from Sayles and Rusnica opened the second quarter scoring, and McCracken's three-pointer at 8:20 gave Penn State Altoona a 24-8 lead. Burns and Sayles each hit a jump shot, and Burns connected from beyond the arc at 6:10 to make it 31-10. Another Sayles jumper and a Skylar McCall (Cleveland Heights, OH/Cleveland Heights) putback score increased Penn State Altoona's lead to 35-13 midway through the quarter, and the Lions went on to lead 35-17 by the intermission.
Hilbert made up a little ground in the third quarter, during which the Hawks had a narrow 14-11 scoring advantage. The visitors started the period on a 9-2 run, getting a Catan three-pointer at 7:23 to trim the Lions' lead to 11 points, 37-26. The Hawks continued to hang around, staying within 11 points, 42-31, after a McKenzie Walker three-pointer at 1:46. But Penn State Altoona scored the last four points of the quarter on an Allyana Stephens (Johnstown, PA/Bishop McCort) free throw and a McCracken trey to finish the period with a 46-31 lead.
Penn State Altoona got back on track during the fourth quarter and grew its lead again. Layups from Green and McCracken preceded back-to-back scores from Sayles that gave the Lions a 54-36 lead with 3:56 remaining, and three-pointers from McCracken and Burns helped boost the advantage to 62-37 by the 1:51 mark. Green's jumper at 1:13 gave Penn State Altoona its biggest lead of the contest, 64-37, and the Lions wrapped up conference win number six.
Penn State Altoona finished its day by winning the turnover battle by a 7-25 margin, and the Lions outscored Hilbert 29-4 off turnovers, 28-8 in the paint, and 12-2 in fastbreak situations.
The Lions have another home AMCC matchup this Wednesday, January 29, welcoming conference opponent Pitt-Greensburg to Adler Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
