GREENSBURG, PA- The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg women's basketball team avenged a four-point loss to Penn State Altoona in early December with a 29-point (89-56) triumph Wednesday night inside Chambers Hall. The Bobcats led from wire to wire to improve their record to 13-8 overall and 11-5 in the AMCC, while the Lions move to 11-8 overall and 9-6 in conference.
The win moves UPG into a tie for third place in the conference after Wednesday's slate.
Nadege Durand collected her 10th double-double of the year with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Eight of her rebounds came on the offensive end and Durand was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the victory. Shaquoia McCray also earned a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
Colleen Murphy tallied 16 points, Maddie Sitler had 13, and Sidney McCully added 11. This was the second time this year that five Bobcats scored double figure points.
There was one tie in the game, which occurred at 2-2. McCully netted six of her eventual 11 points in the first quarter off of two triples. The Bobcats held a five-point edge after the opening frame. The lead got up to seven with 3:10 left in the quarter after McCully and McCray combined for five-straight points.
Six unanswered Bobcat points culminated with the first double digit advantage (27-16) for UPG in the game at the six-minute mark of the second quarter. The last four points of the half were netted by Pitt-Greensburg to put them up 40-25 at the half, the widest margin of the game to that point.
After the Lions scored the first basket of the second half, UPG went on a 10-2 spurt to extend their lead to 21 points (50-29) with 7:03 to play in the third quarter. For the closing 4:43 of the third frame, Pitt-Greensburg maintained a 20 or more-point lead and went into the last quarter ahead by exactly 20 (65-45).
The Bobcats stretched the lead to their largest of the night at 85-54, when McCully drained her third three pointer of the night with 2:10 left in the game. Her deep ball finished off a 13-5 run that spanned nearly five minutes for UPG.
The glass was owned by the Blue and Gold, with a plus-24 advantage (46-22). Pitt-Greensburg also had double digit advantages in bench points (26-10), second chance points (20-4), points in the paint (38-24), and points off turnovers (22-12).
UPG swiped a season best 16 steals away from Penn State Altoona and were led by Maddy Coddington, who tallied four.
Pitt-Greensburg and Medaille College will face off on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 4 pm. Saturday's contest will be a part of Special Olympics Pennsylvania Hoops Saturday inside Chambers Hall. The Bobcats edged out the Mavericks, 62-55, in their first matchup this season.
