GREENSBURG, Pa: The Pitt-Greensburg women's basketball team picked up their first conference win of the season after dispatching with Penn State Altoona, 62-52. The Bobcats would use a well balanced attack and some solid defense to even their record at 4-4 and 1-1 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Lions now fall to 2-6 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.
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The Bobcats jumped all over Altoona from the opening tip, grasping control of the early stages of the game. They would hold the lead for the majority of the first half and after a Sylvia Stuart (Harrisburg, PA, Central Dauphin East) layup with 8:45 remaining put the home side up 21-13, it seemed UPG would extend the lead heading into the half. Penn State Altoona would have other ideas, erasing the deficit over the next four minutes, eventually taking a three point lead, 28-25 with 2:50 left in the half. Pitt-Greensburg would answer back with a pair of Lyndy Baer (Hollsopple, PA, Conemaugh Township) three-pointers that would tie and recapture the advantage, 31-28 in favor of the Bobcats before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Baer would then open the second half with a jumper that extended the lead to five, 33-28. This time the Bobcats would not relinquish the lead and stretch it to double-digits. A Megan Hans (Pittsburgh, PA, North Hills) jumper with 2:08 remaining in the game gave UPG their largest lead at 12, 59-47. The Lions would get as close as 10 points down the stretch but no closer as Pitt-Greensburg cruised to the 62-52 final.
Four Bobcats would finish the game scoring in double figures. Kayla Dames (Oakdale, PA, Chartiers Valley) would lead the way with 16 points, which included 3-4 (75%) from three, and team highs in rebounds, 14 and steals, five. Emily Nelson (New Stanton, PA, Hempfield) wasn't far behind, after finishing with 14 points and eight boards while Morgan Biddle (Flinton, PA, Glendale) just missed out on her fourth double-double in five games with 11 points and nine rebounds. Baer rounded out the top scorers after an 11 point performance where she drained 3-5 (60%) of her three-point opportunities.
As a team, Pitt-Greensburg saw an improved shooting percentage, hitting 36% of their shots and 40% from behind the three point arc. They would hold Altoona to just 26% from the floor and hold major advantages in points in the paint 20-10 and bench scoring 23-6.
Up next is a trip to The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for a branch campus showdown with the Panthers on Saturday, December 13th. The AMCC foes will tip-off at 1:00pm.
