BEHREND, LA ROCHE TO MEET IN AMCC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

No. 1 Penn State Behrend and No. 2 La Roche University each earned victories on Friday night in the semifinal round of the AMCC women's basketball championship tournament to advance to the championship game Saturday afternoon. This will be the third straight year the Lions and Redhawks will meet in the championship game, with La Roche winning in 2023 and Behrend taking the title in 2024. 

Penn State Behrend 85, Penn State Altoona 52
Behrend started out the game with a quick 5-0 lead within the first minute of play, but went cold after that and allowed the Altoona Lions to go on a 7-0 run of their own to take a 7-5 lead with 4:10 to play in the first quarter. Back-to-back baskets by Rachel Majewski gave Behrend a 9-7 lead until Altoona's Avanna Sayles hit a layup with :32 on the clock to tie the game 9-9 after one period of play.

Behrend and Altoona exchanged buckets and remained deadlocked at 13-13 with 8:35 to play in the first half until the Behrend Lions went on a 9-0 run, giving them their biggest lead of the half (22-13). Behrend maintained their lead throughout the remainder of the first half, taking a 29-21 lead into the locker rooms at halftime. Majewski led all scorers in the first half with 10 points. 

Behrend came out hot in the second half, outscoring Altoona 32-14 in the third quarter alone to take a 61-35 advantage after three quarters. The Behrend Lions cruised to an 85-52 victory, outscoring Altoona 24-17 in the final frame and punching their ticket to the AMCC championship game tomorrow afternoon. 

Majewski led all scorers with 25 points. Madilyn Boyer added 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Morgan Altavilla and Alaina Fabin chipped in with 13 points each.. 


La Roche 76, Mount Aloysius 59
The Mounties scored a quick two points off the jump ball, but the La Roche Redhawks controlled the rest of the first quarter from there, going on a 12-3 run, sparked by six points from Dasja Anderson. The Redhawks led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, holding a 16-7 advantage with 2:36 to play. The Mounties closed within 16-13 with 30 seconds to play in the opening frame until the Redhawks got a putback to fall in the final second to take an 18-13 lead after one. Mount Aloysius scored the first five points of the second quarter to tie the game at 18-all, and the rest of the quarter remained tight until La Roche took a 28-35 advantage with 2:00 left in the half and increased that lead to 11 (41-30) when the halftime buzzer sounded. Anderson led all scorers in the first half with 10 points. 

The third quarter was evenly matched, with the Redhawks narrowly outscoring the Mounties 12-11 to hold a 53-41 lead heading into the final quarter. Mount Aloysius scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to close within six points, but couldn't get any closer as La Roche went on to win 76-59 to advance to the championship game. 

La Roche's Alexis Robison led all scorers with 19 points, while Dasja Anderson added 17 and Jazmine Dunn and Kiyanna Dowling chipped in with 11 points each.

Behrend and La Roche will square off Saturday at 3:00pm at Penn State Behrend's Junker Center to determine the AMCC Champion.