ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team had five players in double figures to defeat La Roche 73-53 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) action on Wednesday night.
The Lions (9-13, 7-8 AMCC) avenged a two-point loss on the road to the Redhawks (10-12, 8-7 AMCC) and snapped a 12-game losing streak by outscoring La Roche in all four quarters. Autumn Byes (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) registered her third double-double of the season with a team-best 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Emily Kinecki (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) added 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while Erika Woll (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) tallied 16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Jenna Cole led the Redhawks with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Off the opening tip, Behrend made a statement with a 9-0 start. Woll contributed five points and Kinecki's layup made it a nine-point lead at the 7:44 mark. Cole had eight points in the final four minutes to get La Roche within four at 18-14, but Woll drained her second triple of the night to make it 21-14 after the first quarter.
The Lions kept a steady lead in the second and grabbed a double-digit lead off a pair of Kourtney Beamesderfer (Rebersburg, PA/Penns Valley) free throws with 3:29 before halftime at 35-25. Back-to-back buckets from Ally Dillman (Erie, PA/McDowell) got Behrend a 40-31 edge at the end of the second period.
Beamesderfer recorded eight points and Byes tallied seven in a 24-14 third quarter for the Lions. Behrend nearly got to a 20-point lead on two occasions, spreading the game to 19-points between the two teams with two free throw from Woll at 64-45 to end the third.
The low-scoring third quarter kept the Lions out front but never gave the Redhawks to get back in the game.
Beamesderfer ended with 12 points, while Dillman was the fifth person in double figures with 10 points and four assists. As a team, Behrend shot 44.1 percent from the floor and held La Roche to 28.4 percent shooting.
Behrend returns to action on Saturday at Pitt-Bradford. Game time is 3 p.m.
