Women's Basketball Takes Down La Roche

ERIE, Pa. – Brianna Bayly (Imperial, PA/West Allegheny) had a career day with five three pointers and 21 points to lead Penn State Behrend past La Roche 72-56 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) women's hoops action on Saturday.

The Lions (8-5, 6-2 AMCC) not only knocked the Redhawks (12-2, 7-1 AMCC) off the undefeated conference ranks but also held them to more than 20 points below their average to snap a four-game losing streak to the two-time defending AMCC Champions.

Bayly got help from Julia Myers (Edinboro, PA/General McLane) and Aly Eagle (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley). Myers earned her seventh double-double with 19 points and 13 boards, while Eagle drained three triples for 12 points to go with five assists.

Jessica Pitts paced the Redhawks with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Leading scorer Casie Cygan (20.1 ppg) was limited to just nine points.

After the game was tied seven times and lead changes at five, Behrend used a late first-half surge to go ahead for good.

At 18-all with 10:15 left in the opening half, Eagle and Bayly knock down three's on back-to-back possessions and Hannah Novotny (Cabot, PA/Knoch) made two  from the line to complete an 8-1 run for a 26-19 lead.

Two quick baskets got La Roche within two, but the Lions scored eight straight points in less than three minutes thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Eagle to shift the momentum back to Behrend for a 34-24 advantage.

At the break, the Lions were up by seven and the lead only continued to grow immediately into the second half behind 5-for-5 shooting from the team to make it 46-31.

Bayly also tied a career high with four assists. As a squad, Behrend had a day with a season-best 51 percent from the floor and 61.5 percent from behind the arc.

The Lions returns to action on Monday against Hilbert. Game time is 6 p.m.