Altoona Halts Lions in Season Finale

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball never trailed in 40 minutes of play to defeat Penn State Behrend 68-55 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Saturday afternoon.

Altoona did not pull away until the final five minutes of the game, turning a five-point lead into a 17-point game to avenge the loss to the Lions (4-20, 3-15 AMCC) earlier in the season. Nicole Gripp led all scorers with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while Moira Corrigan tallied 13 points and eight rebounds in the win.

Ally Burke (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst) finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Behrend. Seniors Natalie Corso (Moon Township, PA/Moon) and Brianna Bayly (Imperial, PA/West Allegheny) completed their careers with double-figure performances, dropping 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The first half started close with Altoona holding a one-point lead with 8:08 left to play after Katie Carl (Troupsburg, PA/Jasper-Troupsburg) drove in for the layup. From there, Altoona went on an 11-2 run to make it 27-17 off a bucket from Madison Mossellem.

The Lions got the final two baskets of the half, a three-pointer by Corso and a layup from Burke for a 27-22 score at intermission.

Altoona was able to reach double digits again three minutes into the second half. Behrend chipped at the lead and pulled within five at 52-47 with 6:55 showing on the clock. Another large run by Altoona over a four-minute span pushed the lead to 68-51 with 20 seconds remaining.

The Lions held a one-rebound advantage on the glass thanks to Brittany Kiger's (White Oak, PA/McKeesport) game-high 12 rebounds.  Altoona shot 41.2 percent from the field compared to Behrend's 34.4 percent shooting.