ALTOONA, Pa. – Autumn Byes (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) had a double-double and Erika Woll (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst) led all scorers with 21 points to lead the Penn State Behrend women's basketball team past Penn State Altoona 73-62 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Saturday evening.
Winning their last four games, the Lions (12-13, 10-8 AMCC) have clinched the No. 5 seed for the AMCC Tournament and will travel to No. 4 Medaille for a first-round game on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Byes tallied 16 points and a game-high 13 boards, while Kourtney Beamesderfer (Rebersburg, PA/Penns Valley) finished with 15 points and drained three triples.
Altoona (11-12, 7-11) had three players in double-figure points, led by Paige Burk with 14.
Behrend used a 19-5 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a double-digit lead. At the end of the period, Behrend ended up outscoring Altoona by 17 points for a commanding 55-41 lead with one quarter to play.
At the 3:30 mark of the third quarter, Behrend grabbed a 50-39 lead off a Woll fast-break layup. Consecutive fast-break layups Ally Dillman (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Woll made it 54-39 with 1:25 to play. The Lions held Altoona to just a pair of field goals over the 10-minute period and the other three points were made from the free-throw line, including two by Kaley Strittmatter with 24 seconds on the clock.
The Altoona Lions managed to outscore the Lions 21-18 in the fourth quarter, but the damage from the third quarter was too much to overcome. As a team, the Lions went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line including a four straight from Woll in the final 34 seconds of the game to keep the double-digit lead.
In the first two quarters, Altoona had a 20-14 lead after the first quarter and Behrend got within three by halftime.
Behrend returns to action on Wednesday at No. 4 Medaille. Game time is 8 p.m.