Women's Basketball Hosts AMCC Championships; No. 1 Lions Face No. 4 Altoona in Semifinals

ERIE, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team, the host and No. 1 seed for the AMCC Championships, will take on No. 4 Penn State Altoona in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Semifinals on Friday in the Junker Center. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

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No. 1 Behrend News & Notes
* The defending AMCC Champions, the Behrend Lions, are looking for their fourth overall AMCC Championship
* The Lions have advanced to the AMCC Tournament the last nine seasons
* Last season, the Lions won the championship for the first time in 20 years defeating La Roche, 73-54
* Behrend posted its first undefeated conference season at 16-0 and were named the AMCC Regular-Season Champions
* The Lions are on a 14-game winning streak, a streak that spans over 55 days   
* Behrend showcases two of the top three scorers in the AMCC; Senior Rachel Majewski (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) and junior Morgan Altavilla (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin)
* Majewski leads the conference in scoring with 17.6 points per game and Altavilla is third with 16.2 ppg
* Altavilla is shooting a conference-leading 81.3 percent from the free-throw line and is second in assists with 94
* Senior Alexis Furyes (Medina, OH/Highland) and freshman Alaina Fabin (Indiana, PA/Homer Center) are holding it down defensively for the Lions
* Furyes continues to rank in national statistics for total blocks at 27^th overall and Fabin leads the team and is ranked 10^th in the AMCC in rebounds per game (7.1)
* Behrend is averaging 90.1 points per game against conference teams, while holding AMCC opponents to 53.3 ppg
* The Lions are also ranked fourth in Division III in assist/turnover ratio (1.32)

No. 4 Penn State Altoona News & Notes
* The No. 4 Altoona Lions rallied down at halftime to defeat No. 5 Mt. Aloysius 63-52 in the AMCC first round on Tuesday night
* Avana Sayles scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help Altoona advance in the playoffs
* Sayles also tied a single-game record for blocks with six
* Sayles leads the team and ranks seventh in the conference with 17.0 points per game
* Sayles was named AMCC Athlete of the Week twice this season. She ranks sixth in scoring with 15.1 ppg and is fourth in rebounding (8.8)
* Altoona has won a pair of AMCC Championships, dating back to the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons
* The Altoona Lions enter the contest with a 13-13 overall record

Series History
* Behrend holds a 41-13 all-time record vs. Altoona
* The series began in 1999
* The Behrend Lions have won 12 straight, sweeping Altoona during this regular season
* Altoona's last win was a 79-63 victory in 2018-19 in the AMCC playoffs
* Behrend defeated Altoona 76-69 in the AMCC semifinals last season

Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket

First Round: Tuesday, February 25
#3 Mount Aloysius d. #6 Pitt-Bradford, 74-33
#4 Penn St. Altoona d. #5 Alfred State, 63-52
Bye: #1 Penn St. Behrend & #2 La Roche

Championship Round at #1 Penn State Behrend
Semifinals: Friday, February 28
6 p.m. #1 Penn St. Behrend vs. #4 Penn St. Altoona
8 p.m. #2 La Roche vs. #3 Mt. Aloysius

Finals: Saturday, March 1, 3 p.m.