By Joel Nelson
The Penn State Altoona women’s basketball team defeated AMCC rival Penn State Behrend 79-63 for their seventh win in their past eight contests on Saturday afternoon in Adler Arena.
Altoona (10-8, 8-4 AMCC) had a steady scoring spree from starters Finnley Christine (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone), Alexis Cannistraci (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone) and Paige Burk (Claysburg, Pa./Claysburg-Kimmel). Christine led all scorers with 23 points, while Cannistraci finished with 22 and Burk with 19. The three of them combined for 64 of the team’s 79 points on a combined 25-of-42 shooting performance.
With 11 rebounds, Cannistraci finished off her ninth double-double of the season. She has scored 10 or more points in every game of the season, including 13 or more in the past 13 contests. Cannistraci also dished out four assists and blocked three shots.
Christine got four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Burk got five assists, three rebounds, a block and also tied her season-high in steals with four. Kaylee Strittmatter (Williamsburg, Pa./Penn Cambria) got eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jessica Stevens (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) got seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Stevens got Altoona rolling in the first quarter with a three-pointer 12 seconds in before Christine extended the lead to 5-0 with a fast-break layup with 8:26 left. Altoona held Behrend to just two field goals in the final 5:09 of the first period. Christine exploded with nine points in the quarter to boost Altoona to a 24-13 lead heading into the second period. Penn State Behrend did some damage though, and ended the second quarter on a 10-2 run and cut Altoona’s lead to 37-31 into halftime.
Christine, Cannistraci, Stevens and Burk helped push Altoona to a 12-4 run to begin the third quarter, where they led 49-35 with 5:53 left to go. Burk, Strittmatter and Cannistraci would also help push the team to a 10-2 run in the final 4:50 and be up comfortably in the fourth quarter, 59-42.
Behrend fought hard and would end the game on a 7-0 run but Penn State Altoona’s solid first three quarters were more than enough to get the 79-63 win. Altoona held the lead through the entire game.
Coach Christine Slater VanHook of Penn State Behrend (6-13, 4-8 AMCC), got 12-point performances each from starters Kara Haslett and Ashley Seamon, as well as Kourtney Beamesderfer off the bench.
Penn State Altoona is now in third place of the AMCC playoff race at 8-4, trailing Hilbert College and LaRoche College who are tied for the AMCC lead with 10-2 conference records.
Coach Wilt’s squad will have a big road trip ahead of them, beginning with conference for Pitt-Greensburg on Wednesday, Jan. 30. They’ll begin February with a road trip to Buffalo, New York taking on Hilbert on Saturday, Feb. 2, and Medaille College on Sunday, Feb. 3. Altoona will have a third road game in as many days with a non-conference trip to Frostburg State on Monday, Feb. 4. They’ll will return home for Saturday, Feb. 9, against AMCC opponent D’Youville College.