by Casey Burinskas

ALTOONA, Pa. – The No. 4 seed Penn State Altoona women's basketball team overcame a slow start to Tuesday night's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament first-round game in Adler Arena, eventually defeating No. 5 seed Alfred State College 63-52.

Penn State Altoona (13-13) trailed 11-6 after the first quarter, 26-20 by halftime, and fell behind by as many as 11 points during the third quarter. But the Lions got on track during the third, outscoring Alfred State (7-19) 25-14 in the period and ultimately coming from behind to win by 11 points.

Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) had a game-high 24 points for Penn State Altoona while grabbing 10 rebounds to notch a double-double. Additionally, Sayles blocked six shots to tie the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team's single-game record for blocks.

Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) secured a game-high 12 boards and also scored eight points. Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) chipped in seven points and a game-best four steals.

Hilbert's Taylor Benjamin led the Hawks in scoring with 16 points.

In the first quarter, the Lions started out slow behind the Pioneers, trailing 9-0 with under four minutes left. Skylar McCall (Cleveland Heights, OH/Cleveland Heights) finally put Altoona on the board with a jump shot at 3:32, before Rakaya Cooper (East Orange, NJ/East Orange) landed a layup to make it 11-4. To end the first quarter, Green made two free throws to close out the score 11-6 with Alfred State leading. 

Hoping to come back in the second quarter, Sayles and McCracken each made a free throw to slowly increase the Lions' score. Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) made a three-pointer at 5:03 to cut the Pioneers' lead to 19-15, and Burns later hit a jump shot, followed by McCracken making a three-pointer, and Altoona ended the first half down 26-20.

Midway through the third quarter, McCracken made a three-pointer to keep the Lions within six, 33-27, of the Alfred State lead. Jump shots by Sayles and Rusnica followed close behind, and McCracken sank a three-pointer at 4:41 to have Altoona trailing by only one, 33-32. Sayles' jump shot gave the Lions the lead, 34-33, and a steal by McCall led to Sayles finishing with a jump shot to keep the score tied at 36-36. Later, a 7-0 run by Altoona put the Lions up 43-38, capped by a steal from McCracken that gave Sayles a layup at the other end. Sayles made a late jump shot, and Altoona led 45-40 heading into the final quarter.

In the last quarter, Green sank a jump shot, followed by Rusnica making a basket of her own. Rusnica made a free throw, and Sayles got a steal and took it down the court to make a layup that gave Altoona a 52-43 lead. The Lions maintained their lead, increasing it to 58-48 on a Rusnica jumper with 1:14 left. McCracken and Green made free throws over the remainder of the quarter, and Altoona made its way to a first-round victory by a final score of 63-52.