ALTOONA – Pitt-Bradford women’s basketball used a run in the fourth quarter to break open a tie game against Penn State Altoona on Wednesday night and held on to defeat the Lions, 81-74.
Both teams entered the contest with something to gain with a victory, and the scoreboard reflected it; the game featured 10 ties and four different lead changes.
Pitt-Bradford led by as much as seven on two separate occasions in the first quarter, yet Penn State Altoona rallied to trail by two after 10 minutes. The Lions hit a pair of threes in the final 90 seconds of the first half to lead 41-38 at the break after falling behind by five with 4:37 left.
Pitt-Bradford trimmed the deficit to one on Brittany Watts’ basket at the 8:20 mark of the third quarter, but Penn State Altoona ripped off six straight points to take its largest lead of the game at 49-42. The Panthers responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points to cut it to one at 51-50, and they eventually went ahead, 57-56, on Watts’ jumper in the closing seconds of the frame.
The teams would trade baskets to open the fourth quarter, and with the game tied at 64, Pitt-Bradford used a 9-1 scoring run to go ahead for good. Ali Rinfrette’s three snapped the tie, and her layup with 3:33 remaining upped the Panthers’ margin to 73-65.
Penn State Altoona refused to go away, scoring seven unanswered points to move within one with 1:42 left. Watts’ collected her own miss on the ensuing possession and was fouled. She converted both free throws to stretch the lead to three, and her three-point play on the next Panther possession sealed the win.
Pitt-Bradford only shot 36 percent from the field, but offset the poor shooting performance by forcing turnovers and dominating the offensive glass. The Panthers scored 16 points off 17 Penn State Altoona turnovers and netted 20 second-chance points, fueled by 20 offensive boards. They outrebounded the Lions by 12 and limited Penn State Altoona to 5-20 shooting from behind the arc.
Rinfrette finished with a game-high 29 points, going 10-22 from the floor, and added nine rebounds. Watts finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, her sixth of the season. Darien Lantz was in double-figures with 10 points, and Kaserra Owens collected 10 rebounds.
Pitt-Bradford improves to 15-9 on the season and 12-5 in the AMCC. The Panthers are currently in second place and lead Medaille by one game in the standings. The Blue and Gold will close out the regular season Saturday at home at 1 p.m. against Pitt-Greensburg.
Second Half Woes Continue for Pitt-Bradford Men
ALTOONA – Penn State Altoona outscored the Pitt-Bradford men’s basketball team 18-5 over a key five-minute stretch on Wednesday night to deal the Panthers their third straight loss, 93-87.
The game was all too reminiscent of the team’s loss to Alfred State on Jan. 24, where it led by double-digits in the first half and fell apart defensively in the second half, surrendering 57 points.
Penn State Altoona used a similar script after falling behind by 12 in the first half. With Pitt-Bradford leading by one, the Panthers went on a 17-6 scoring run to push their advantage to 40-28. They eventually led 43-34 at the break.
It took the Lions two and a half minutes to erase Pitt-Bradford’s halftime lead. Penn State Altoona scored the first 11 points of the second half to go ahead 44-43, and a jumper at the 15:15 mark stretched its advantage to three.
A three-pointer with 11:02 remaining extended the Lions’ advantage to 61-54, but the Panthers rallied, scoring eight straight points, the last four by Fateem Brockington, to take a one-point lead. The teams would trade baskets over the next three-plus minutes, and Evan Greening’s bucket with 6:39 remaining pulled Pitt-Bradford back in front 69-68.
Two made free throws on the other end would ignite Penn State Altoona’s closing kick. The Lions would score six straight and 18 of the game’s next 23 points to build its own 12-point lead. Pitt-Bradford attempted to close the gap in the final minute, yet Penn State Altoona would go 7-8 from the line to preserve the win.
The Lions scored 59 points in the second half and continued an alarming trend for the Panthers. In their last two games, they have been outscored 100-64 in the second half.
Penn State Altoona shot 51 percent and was 20-28 from the free throw line in the second half. The Lions went to the line a total of 47 times and shot 72 percent. Pitt-Bradford hit at a 46 percent clip overall but managed just one three in 13 attempts.
Christian Kelly-Perkins scored a career-high 29 points, going 11-18 from the field and 6-6 from the stripe. Greening totaled 26 points and 14 rebounds for his 19th double-double, and Brockington added 18 points.
Pitt-Bradford drops to 11-12 overall and 9-8 in the AMCC. The Panthers close out the regular season Saturday at home versus Pitt-Greensburg.
WOMEN
PITT-BRADFORD (81)
Rinfrette 10-5-6-29, Watts 6-3-3-18, Lantz 3-2-2-10, Maciag 3-0-0-7, Colebert 3-0-0-7, Owens 2-2-3-6, Stringer 2-0-0-4, Guengerich 3, Collins 0-0-0-0, Isenberg 0-0-0-0. Totals 30-12-14-81.
PENN STATE ALTOONA (74)
Wheeler 8-0-0-16, Zimmerman 6-3-3-15, Burk 5-3-4-15, Gripp 3-1-2-8, Boslet 3-0-0-8, Christine 2-2-3-6, Strittmatter 3-0-0-6, Sorichetti 0-0-0-0. Totals 30-9-12-74.
Halftime: Penn State Altoona 41-38
3-point FGs: Pitt-Bradford – Rinfrette 4, Lantz 2, Guengerich 1, Maciag 1, Colebert 1; Penn State Altoona – Boslet 2, Burk 2, Gripp 1.
MEN
PITT-BRADFORD (87)
Kelly-Perkins 11-6-6-29, Greening 10-6-8-26, Brockington 6-6-7-18, Harris 3-0-3-6, Kinsey 1-1-2-3, Haenel 0-2-2-2, Niedermeyer 1-0-0-2, Sutton 0-1-2-1, Atkinson 0-0-0-0, Dahlstrand 0-0-0-0. Totals 32-22-30-87.
PENN STATE ALTOONA (93)
Wilson 7-5-6-22, Nance 6-9-11-22, Luhr 5-8-9-20, Lucas 2-7-9-11, Charles 2-3-8-8, Smith 4-0-2-8, Gardner-Nicholson 0-2-2-2, Gal 0-0-0-0, West 0-0-0-0, Higley 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-34-47-93.
Halftime: Pitt-Bradford 43-34
3-point FGs: Pitt-Bradford – Kelly-Perkins 1; Penn State Altoona – Wilson 3, Luhr 2, Charles 1, Nance 1.
