ERIE, Pa. – The D'Youville women's basketball team outscored Penn State Behrend marginally in each quarter to produce a 62-45 victory in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) opener for both teams on Wednesday night.
The Spartans (2-4, 1-0 AMCC) held a 56-35 advantage on the glass and drained seven of their eight three pointers in the first half to take a 12-point lead that never relinquished for the conference win. Sydney Alton led with 14 points and Magan Magee grabbed a game-high 11 boards.
The Lions (1-4, 0-1 AMCC), who are still looking for their first win at home, had three players in double-figure scoring. Emily Kinecki (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst) led all scorers with 19 points while adding seven rebounds and three steals. Autumn Byes (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) added 13 and Nicole Boyer (Blairsville, PA/Blairsville) registered a career-high 10 points.
D'Youville never trailed in the game thanks to four triples in the first quarter that led to a 15-8 advantage. A pair of free throws by Byes made the deficit six after the first 10 minutes of play. Behrend kept the Spartans within range in the second quarter, but Alton sunk another three pointer with 3:28 left for a double-digit lead at 29-19. Byes responded with a trey and Kailey Kellner answered with one of her own to keep D'Youville out front.
The Spartans edged the Lions 15-13 in the third quarter and 11-8 in the fourth, grabbing their largest lead at 19 with 1:49 remaining in the contest off a free-throw shot from Jordan Smith to make it 62-43.
As a team, Behrend went 16-for-21 from the charity stripe while D'Youville made six shots on 11 attempts from the free-throw line.
The Lions return to action on Saturday against Franciscan. Game time is 3 p.m.