ALTOONA – The Penn State Altoona women’s basketball team’s schedule returned to Adler Arena on Tuesday night, when they beat Lycoming, 69-49.

Penn State Altoona (4-2) played their way to a 33-27 halftime lead after a 21-point second quarter. Lycoming (2-3, 1-1 Landmark) tried to overcome Penn State Altoona’s lead but was shut out by the Lions defense. Penn State Altoona’s defense played a key role as the Lions grabbed the victory by twenty points.

Four Lions had double-digit point tallies in the victory. Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) led all scorers with 17 points and had nine rebounds. Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) added 16 points, ten rebounds, and three blocks. Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois) had 13 points and two assists. Ellie Irvin (Calvin, PA/Southern Huntingdon) added ten points. Abigail Alexander (York, PA/Northeastern) led the team in assists with four.

For the Warriors, Allison Fisher led in scoring with 14 points, while Jocelyn McCracken added ten points.

The first quarter would be a tight affair, with both teams exchanging baskets throughout. Irvin scored a jump shot with 00:47 left to end the quarter at 12-12.

The Lions started an 11-1 run at 9:17 in the second quarter. A jump shot from Irvin, layups from Sayles, Alexander, and Rusnica as well as a three-pointer from Rusnica gave the Lions a 23-15 lead. From there, the Lions held on to their lead for the remainder of the game.

Lycoming scored two three-pointers in the final two minutes to cut Penn State Altoona’s lead to one-point before Alexander scored a three-pointer and Haley Hicks (Wylie, TX/Wylie East) scored a layup to increase the Lions’ lead to six points going into the halftime break.

Penn State Altoona went on a 10-2 run at 4:00 in the third quarter with free throws from Rusnica, three-pointers from Allyana Stephens (Johnstown, PA/Bishop McCort) and McCracken as well as a layup from McCracken.

The fourth quarter would be lower scoring as the Lions looked to hold on for the win while only conceding nine points in the entire quarter. The Lions made an 8-0 run with 2:44 left in the fourth quarter, scoring off three-pointers from Irvin and free throws from McCracken to close out the game and give Penn State Altoona their fourth win of the season.

Penn State Altoona plays their next two games at home, the first of which will get their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference schedule underway as they face Pitt-Greensburg on Wednesday, December 3. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.