by Casey Burinskas

ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team was at home on Wednesday night to face off against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Greensburg, and the Lions got past the Bobcats for a 57-46 victory.

Penn State Altoona (10-9, 7-3 AMCC) overcame some inconsistency on offense thanks to a defensive effort that limited Pitt-Greensburg (3-16, 1-9 AMCC) to a 31.7 percent field goal percentage and held the Bobcats to an 0-for-14 showing from three-point range.

The Lions' Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) recorded her sixth double-double of the season, leading all players in the game with 15 points and a season-best 17 rebounds. Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored 14 points, including going 3-for-6 from three-point range, and Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Pitt-Greensburg got 12 points from Jocelyn Bielak, and Autumn Matthews contributed 11 points for the Bobcats.

In the first quarter, McCracken was first to put points on the board with a layup, and she came back for more with another layup to give Altoona an early lead, 4-2. Later, Burns made a three-pointer and Sayles hit a jump shot to secure an even bigger lead, 15-8. Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside) sank two free throws before a buzzer-beating jump shot by Sayles brought the Lions' lead to 19-14 to end the quarter.

Burns started the second quarter with a three-pointer for the first points of the period. McCracken then scored a layup, Sayles nailed a jump shot, and Skylar McCall (Cleveland Heights, OH/Cleveland Heights) made her first points of the game with a jumper to give Altoona a 28-15 lead. Nearing the end of the quarter, Burns made a layup, and another layup from McCracken closed out the half with a score of 32-20.

Coming out of the half, McCracken made the Lions' first points with a three-pointer that helped her team gain a 35-24 lead. Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) made a jump shot, and Burns came back with another three-pointer. McCall then made another three-pointer, followed by Halle Kuzminski's (Warren, PA/Warren) layup for her first points of the game, and the Lions closed out the quarter with a lead of 45-32.

In the final quarter, Kuzminski started off with another layup to give the Lions a 47-32 lead. Pitt-Greensburg closed the gap to five, 49-44, with 3:59 remaining, but Sayles' basket and free throw got Altoona's lead to 52-44. Burns and Rusnica combined for five free throws late in the quarter, and the Lions won by a score of 57-46.

Penn State Altoona outrebounded Pitt-Greensburg by a 55-39 margin, and the Lions outscored the Bobcats 34-16 in the paint.

Next up, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will play at home on Wednesday, February 5, at 7:30 p.m., facing another AMCC opponent in Mount Aloysius College.