by Casey Burinskas

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – On Wednesday night, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was on the road to face off against non-conference foe Lycoming College. The Lions won their first game of the season, defeating the Warriors 60-49 in the Lamade Gym.

Penn State Altoona (1-2) overcame an eight-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, outscoring Lycoming (0-1) by 12 points in the second quarter to take a halftime lead. The Lions used a 22-10 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter to pull away and beat the Warriors by 11.

The Lions' Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) led all players in the game with 19 points and six assists. Her 6-for-9 performance from three-point range ties for the fourth-best three-point percentage in a game in team history, and her total of six made threes is tied for the fifth-most.

Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) provided 17 points and three assists off the bench for Penn State Altoona, and Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) had 14 points and five rebounds.

Halle Kuzminski (Warren, PA/Warren) led the Lions in rebounds and steals, totaling eight boards and three steals. Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) and Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) had six rebounds each, and Addi Schirato (Salix, PA/Forest Hills) blocked a game-high four shots.

Lycoming's Ashley Yoh led the Warriors in scoring with 16 points, while Meghan Dufner had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In the first quarter, Lycoming struck first with a layup and a three-pointer, but Altoona quickly responded with a three-pointer coming in from Bisignani on an assist from McCracken. Shortly after that, Green made a layup to help pull the Lions within three, 8-5. Nearing the end of the quarter, Bisignani was good for a free throw, before Kuzminski made a layup to help narrow the Lycoming lead to 15-8. The Warriors landed one more point on the board and ended the first quarter ahead by a score of 16-8.

The Lions started off the second quarter scoring when Sayles came in strong for a layup in the opening seconds, followed by a three-pointer from Bisignani to help put Altoona back in the game, 16-13. Sayles came back in for two more layups to give Altoona the lead, 17-16, and Rusnica scored her first points of the game on a jumper, assisted by Sayles, to put the Lions ahead 21-20. Bisignani and Haley Hicks (Wylie, TX/Wylie East) closed out the second quarter scoring for the Lions, with Altoona leading 26-22 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Bisignani was first to land points for the Lions with another three-pointer. At the 7:13 mark, Rusnica made another jump shot to give Altoona a 31-24 lead, and she continued to rack up points on a three-pointer and a layup that increased the Lions' advantage to 36-27. With Altoona holding a five-point lead late in the quarter, Lycoming scored six straight points to close the period with a 39-38 lead over the Lions.

Starting the final quarter, Rusnica was the first to score points for Altoona with a layup. Sayles was next, landing a jumper to bring her team's total to 42 points. After another Sayles basket kept the Lycoming lead at one point, Bisignani hit two more three-pointers to give Altoona a 50-45 lead by the 4:55 mark. Rusnica added a jump shot and a free throw, and Schirato's layup gave the Lions a 55-45 lead with just over two minutes to go. Rusnica and Sayles totaled five free throws over the final 1:24, and Altoona was able to hold off Lycoming to pull out a 60-49 win.

Next up, Penn State Altoona women's basketball will be on the road again to face USCAA opponent Penn State Beaver on Friday, November 15, at 6 p.m.