Fourth-Quarter Surge Helps Women's Basketball Past Saint Mary's

GALLATIN, TN – The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team defeated Saint Mary's (MN) 71-65 in the first round of the Music City Classic held at Welch College on Thursday morning.

Final Score: Penn State Behrend 71, Saint Mary's (MN) 65
Records:  Penn State Behrend (8-2), Saint Mary's (MN) (2-6)

Key Moments:

* Morgan Altavilla (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lions break a 48-all tie heading into the final 10 minutes
* Altavilla tallied 14 of the 23 fourth quarter points to help the Lions win their seventh straight win
* Rachel Majewski (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) tied Altavilla with 22 points, going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe
* Madilyn Boyer (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) was the third player in double figure points with 12
* Altavilla drained the a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter and give Behrend the lead for good
* Saint Mary's got within one point at the 3:49 mark but the Lions grew the lead to six on three occasions including the final margin
* The Cardinals outscored Behrend 30-28 over the first two quarters
* The Lions tied it heading into the third and used the fourth quarter to outlast Saint Mary's
* Altavilla and Alexis Furyes (Medina, OH/Highland) each pulled down seven rebounds

Next Up:

* Behrend returns to action on tomorrow against Webster in the second game of the Music City Classic. Game time is 1:30 p.m.