Defense Sends Behrend Past Nazareth

ERIE, Pa. – Kimmy Pol (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) was near perfect from the field with 6-for-7 shooting for a season-high 14 points and five assists to lead the Penn State Behrend women's basketball team past Nazareth 59-43 in non-conference action on Valentine's Day.

Pol and Brittany Wilwohl (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) each scored 10 points in the decisive second half to combine for 20 out of the 34 points scored to put the Lions (19-4) one victory away from hitting the 20-win mark this season.

Katie Kollar, the Golden Flyers (11-13) leading scorer this season with 11.4 ppg, kept her average up with a team-high 14 points.

In the first half, Behrend forced 15 turnovers to generate 10 steals which translated into nine points including the Aly Eagle (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) fast-break layup at the 9:26 mark to give the Lions a 22-11 lead.

Nazareth was down but proved they were not out with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to three. Eagle drained two from the line and Sarah Schweitzer (Bridgeville, PA/South Fayette) made the final basket of the half for a 25-19 lead.

Behrend displayed the same intensity on defense in the second half, turning a single-digit lead into a double and pushing it to 21 points on back-to-back turnovers and steals that resulted in layups by Eagle and Pol.

The lead grew to 59-36 with 5:15 left to play and despite the Lions not scoring a point in those final five minutes, the advantage was too great for the Golden Flyers to overcome.

Holly Bourquin (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) had nine rebounds, six points and three steals on the night, while Schweitzer had a career-high three blocks.

Behrend will face Mt. Aloysius on Saturday in its regular-season home game. Game begins at 4 p.m.