ERIE, Pa. - Brianna Bayly (Imperial, PA/West Allegheny) and Natalie Corso (Moon Township, PA, Moon) celebrated their senior night with team highs of 19 and 15 points, respectively, to lead Penn State Behrend past Hilbert 65-56 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Wednesday night.
Bayly had a career day from the free-throw line, draining 12 of 13 attempts. Ally Burke (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst), who finished with 10 points, scored eight from the charity stripe and tied a career-high five assists. The win marks the Lions' (4-19, 3-14 AMCC) first victory this season where four players score in double figures. Brittany Kiger (White Oak, PA/McKeesport) also finish with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Natalie Whitman continued her dominance for the Hawks (4-20, 2-15 AMCC) with 26 points and 17 rebounds.
As a team, Behrend went 29-for-37 from the line to help clinch the win down the stretch while setting a new season high for most free-throws made and attempts.
After holding a 33-22 lead at the break, Corso hit her third triple of the day and Kiger sunk back-to-back layups to give the Lions a 16-point lead. Bayly and Corso then exchanged layups to make it 46-28 with 14:22 left to play.
From there, Behrend scored its remaining 21 out of 23 points from the charity stripe. Rachael Razzano (New Castle, PA/New Castle) had the only field goal at the 4:58 mark.
It came down to free-throw shooting for the Lions that helped head coach Roz Fornari remain undefeated on senior day in her 21 years with the program.
Hilbert made a good attempt at coming back thanks to Whitman scoring 10 of the Hawks' 12 points to get within six points. Wyann Jackson cut the lead to five points with a three-pointer and pair of free throws on the next possession at 58-53, but nothing was stopping Behrend at the line to keep Hilbert catching up.
The Lions have their final game of the season on Saturday at Penn State Altoona, beginning at 3 p.m.