Carlow Rallies, Deals Lions 81-76 Loss
by Casey Burinskas
ALTOONA, Pa. – Carlow University overcame a 25-point deficit in Wednesday night's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest in the Adler Arena to hand the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team an 81-76 loss.
The Lions (7-8, 4-2 AMCC) built a 25-point advantage by halftime, following a dominant first half that saw Penn State Altoona put up 45 points while holding Carlow to just 20 points and a 23.3 percent field goal percentage. But the Celtics staged a furious comeback in the second half, outscoring Penn State Altoona 26-19 in the third quarter and 35-12 in the fourth to hand the Lions a tough loss.
Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) finished with a team-high 17 points for Penn State Altoona to go along with eight rebounds, five assists, three steals, and one block. Jordan Bisignani (Pittsburgh, PA/Peters Township) followed with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored 13.
Haley Hicks (Wylie, TX/Wylie East) provided nine points off the bench, and Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) also scored nine while securing a game-high 11 rebounds.
Carlow's Sydney Carr led all scorers with 24 points. Emma Aubrey had 14 for the Celtics, and Shaelyn Clark and Emiley Hillgartner scored 13 and 11, respectively, for the visitors.
In the first quarter, Sayles was the first to put up points for the Lions with a layup on an assist from Green. Burns put up a three-pointer to land it in the basket and give Altoona a 5-3 lead. After Carlow took an 8-5 lead, Hicks put up a layup to bring her team back to within one. Altoona pulled ahead late in the quarter, using a Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) basket and a final layup from McCracken to end the quarter with a lead of 14-11.
Starting the second quarter, Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) was able to bury a three ball in the net to give the Lions a stronger lead. McCracken then came in to land another three-pointer for Altoona, followed by Sayles placing a layup. With a foul against Carlow, Altoona was able to secure two more points on Green free throws and continued to run the board with a sunken three from Burns. With 4:15 left before the half, Burns was still rolling with another three-pointer, and Hicks later made another layup to increase Altoona's lead to 41-16. Hicks added a final layup with a minute left, leaving the Lions' lead at 45-20 at the end of the second quarter.
With the third quarter underway, McCracken was first for Altoona to put up points, and Bisignani found the basket with a layup. Sayles and McCracken made layups to put the Lions' lead at 21, 53-32. Burns followed with a jump shot, and Bisignani went on a run to score seven points in a row to further Altoona's lead later into the quarter, making it 62-40. With a final layup from Burns, the Lions went into the fourth quarter leading 64-46.
Starting the final quarter, McCracken made a layup, followed by another layup from Halle Kuzminski (Warren, PA/Warren). Carlow closed the gap to eight, before Green sent up a layup to set the score at 10 points apart, 70-60. The Celtics kept pushing and took their first lead since early in the game, 71-70, with 3:25 remaining, but Bisignani responded by making a three-pointer and McCracken made a layup, putting Altoona back in front, 75-71. Carlow worked its way back in front, 78-75, before a Sayles free throw brought the score to 78-76. But the Celtics added three more foul shots, finishing a great comeback to overtake the Lions in the second half and win by five, 81-76.
Next, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will take on AMCC opponent La Roche University at home in the Adler Arena at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 18.
