BUFFALO, NY – Medaille used a strong second half and superb bench play to pull away from the Penn State Behrend women's basketball team 78-65 on Wednesday night in Buffalo.
Lauren Jensen, Janae Hamilton, and Morgan Howe combined to give the Mavericks 23 points off the bench in the win.
Medaille was able to get the victory despite huge efforts from Natalie Corso (Moon Township, PA/Moon) and Ally Burke (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep).
Corso finished with a career-high 20 points, including 6-of-9 from deep, along with three rebounds and three assists.
Burke, meanwhile, led all scorers with 25 points. The junior, who missed the first seven games of the year due to injury, eclipsed the 20 point mark for the third time this season.
Behrend trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but went on a 17-8 run late in the period to narrow the halftime deficit to just four.
Although Medaille extended the lead to double digits for much of the second half, the Lions battled. Brianna Bayly (Imperial, PA/West Allegheny) cut the Mavericks' advantage to eight with a three-pointer at the 11:45 mark. The senior finished with ten points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Bayly's three turned out to be the high water mark in the second half for the Lions, as Medaille hung on for the 13 point victory. Joelle Pollak finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds for the Mavericks, and Danielle Reinwald chipped in 18 points with seven boards.
Rachael Razzano (New Castle, PA/New Castle) added four rebounds and four assists and Sadie Zielinski (Erie, PA/Harborcreek) finished with five boards for Behrend, who will travel to battle Franciscan on Saturday, February 8 at 4 p.m.