Lions Tame Panthers in Home Finale
by Casey Burinskas
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team played its final home game of the regular season Wednesday night in Adler Arena against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Pitt-Bradford, and the Lions were able to pull away for a 76-53 win.
Penn State Altoona (12-12, 9-6 AMCC) came out hot, scoring 31 points in the first quarter to build a 43-29 lead by halftime. The Lions continued to grow their lead throughout the second half to deal Pitt-Bradford (4-17, 3-12 AMCC) a loss.
Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) recorded her eighth double-double of the season for Penn State Altoona, leading all players in the game with 11 rebounds and tying for the game high in points with 18. Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) matched Sayles' game-high point total, scoring 18 herself.
Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) scored 14 points, Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) had 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, and Halle Kuzminski (Warren, PA/Warren) contributed seven points and six rebounds off the bench.
Pitt-Bradford got 15 points from Paige Grotto, 14 points from Amber Murak, and 12 points from Avery Benzel.
In the first quarter, Rusnica put up three points in the first 30 seconds. Sayles pulled down a defensive rebound, which later allowed McCracken to make a layup to give the Lions an early lead in the game, 5-2. Burns sank a three-pointer for her first points with an assist from Raniyah Green (Hillside, NJ/East Orange/Hillside). Rakaya Cooper (East Orange, NJ/East Orange) put up a layup on an assist from Sayles, and Sayles made a layup of her own to make it 17-9. McCracken hit two three-pointers late in the period on assists from Burns, and the Lions ended the first quarter ahead of Pitt-Bradford by a score of 31-16.
Rusnica started off the second quarter with a jump shot, and Burns found the basket on a three-pointer that gave Altoona a 20-point lead, 38-18. With just over four minutes remaining, McCracken scored a layup, and Kuzminski entered the game and made a layup shortly after that. Kuzminski made a final free throw to close out the half for the Lions, who led 43-29 at the intermission.
Coming out of the half, Sayles made a steal that was turned into a jump shot. With a foul against Pitt-Bradford, Rusnica made two free throws, which were followed by layups from Sayles and Rusnica. Burns made another three-pointer which allowed Altoona to lead by 21 points, 57-36. With a layup from Sayles and two free throws from Rusnica, Altoona entered the fourth quarter well ahead of Pitt-Bradford by a score of 61-38.
Starting the last quarter, Rusnica sank a three-pointer with an assist from McCracken. Sayles made two jump shots midway through the period, followed by Infiniti Lewis (Richmond, VA/J.R. Tucker) making a jump shot. The last points of the game came from Haley Hicks (Wylie, TX/Wylie East), whose layup ended a high-scoring victory, 76-53, for the Lions.
Penn State Altoona outrebounded Pitt-Bradford 50-30, and the Lions outscored the Panthers 19-8 in second-chance points.
Next, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will play away at La Roche University on Saturday, February 22 at 4 p.m.
