YORK, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team started its 2024-25 season on the road Friday evening, and the Lions suffered a 65-46 loss to non-conference opponent York College in the Wolf Gymnasium.

York (1-0) worked its way out to a 16-point halftime advantage and led by as many as 29 points. Penn State Altoona (0-1) struggled early to find its footing offensively, scoring just 15 first-half points before generating 31 points in the second half.

Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) scored a game-high 18 points for Penn State Altoona, connecting on eight field goals while grabbing four rebounds. Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) added nine points, seven rebounds, and a team-high three steals, while Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) led all players in the game with 11 rebounds to go along with four points.

Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored five points and dished out a team-best three assists, while Halle Kuzminski (Warren, PA/Warren) and Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) chipped in four points apiece and Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) scored two.

York got 16 points from Morgan Adams, as well as 13 points apiece from Taylor Burda and Alyssa Hocker.

Sayles' layup and McCracken's three-pointer helped Penn State Altoona to a 5-2 lead early in the first quarter, but York got baskets from Adams and Burda to jump ahead, 6-5. Layups from Bisignani and Green midway through the period kept the Lions within two, 11-9, but the Spartans finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to end with a 21-9 advantage heading into the second.

Penn State Altoona was limited to just six points during the second quarter, as the Lions got early jumpers from McCracken and Sayles, as well as a McCracken layup at 6:09 that put her team's deficit at 11 points, 26-15. But York held Penn State Altoona scoreless the rest of the quarter, and the Spartans built a 31-15 lead by halftime.

The Lions found a little more success scoring the basketball in the third quarter, when the team put 14 points on the board. McCracken's jumper at 8:32 accounted for her team's first points of the period, and Burns connected on a three-pointer at 6:04. Kuzminski made a pair of baskets later in the quarter, but York continued to expand its lead, going up by as many as 29 points and finishing the period with a 54-29 advantage over Penn State Altoona.

Rusnica's jump shot just over two minutes into the fourth quarter provided the first points of the period for Penn State Altoona, which outscored York 17-11 in the quarter. Baskets by Burns, Green, and McCracken helped the Lions lower the score differential to 20 points, 60-40, with four minutes to play. Green and McCracken each scored a basket and a free throw over the remainder of the quarter, but Penn State Altoona ultimately fell to York by 19 points.

Penn State Altoona women's basketball returns to action on Monday, November 11, when the Lions will travel to Huntingdon, Pa., to take on regional non-conference opponent Juniata College. Tipoff for that matchup is set for 7 p.m.