ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit with a 35-12 run over the final 13:26 to upset Mt. Aloysius 65-54 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Saturday evening in the Junker Center.
Freshman forward Autumn Byes (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) grabbed a season-high 18 boards, seventh best rebounding performance in program history, while Erika Woll (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) dropped a game-high 23 points to move her into seventh place on the all-time scoring chart with 1,059 points.
The Mounties (12-5, 10-2 AMCC) got double-doubles from Abby Kulick (10 pts, 11 reb) and Jessa Wright (11 pts, 11 reb).
The name of the game was defense; in the second quarter for the Mounties and in the fourth quarter for Behrend. The Lions took a 19-14 lead after the first 10 minutes, but Mt. Aloysius held Behrend scoreless for nearly nine minutes in the second quarter and allowing one field-goal for a 28-21 halftime lead.
Down 42-30 in the third quarter, the Lions slowly started making their way back and cut the lead in half to 44-38 after the third quarter.
The Mounties were doing just enough to stay on top, hitting a three-pointer after Emily Kinecki (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) made a layup to get within two for a 51-46 lead at the 7:20 mark.
With the seven rebounds from Byes, the 50 percent shooting from the floor by the team and a 9-for-12 showing form the charity stripe, Behrend was able to upset the top team in the league by 11 points. The Lions held Mt. Aloysius to just 10 points in the fourth quarter while putting up 27.
Byes pulled down a third of Behrend's defensive rebounds with 15. The team tied the season high of 35 defensive boards to finish with 53 overall.
The Lions return to action on Wednesday against Medaille. Game time is 8 p.m.