ALFRED, N.Y. – The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team closed its regular season schedule with a road win Saturday afternoon, when the Lions defeated Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference foe Alfred State College in the Orvis Gymnasium.

Penn State Altoona (18-7, 13-3 AMCC) grabbed the lead early in the first quarter and never looked back, going up by as many as 23 points during the second half. The Lions turned in another strong performance on defense, holding Alfred State (15-10, 10-6 AMCC) to a 22.1 percent field goal percentage, including a 13 percent showing from three-point range.

Avana Sayles (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) and Halle Kuzminski (Warren, PA/Warren) both dropped double-doubles for Penn State Altoona. Sayles recorded her 15th double-double of the season by scoring 15 points and grabbing a game-high 19 rebounds, a total that ties for the third-most in a game in team history. For Kuzminski, her double-double was the first of her collegiate career, as she provided 13 rebounds and 12 points.

Additionally, Sayles became the Penn State Altoona women's basketball program's all-time leader in rebounds. Her 19 rebounds today moved her into first place on the Lions' career rebounds list, passing former Penn State Altoona forward Moira Corrigan (2011-15) to finish the day with 968 career rebounds. Sayles is also the team's record-holder for defensive rebounds (679) and is second behind Corrigan in offensive rebounds (289).

Lanie Wilt (Altoona, PA/Altoona) put up a game-high 18 points to go along with five assists, two steals, and two blocks. Ellie Irvin (Calvin, PA/Southern Huntingdon) added 12 points, including hitting four three-pointers.

Jaidyn McCracken (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) finished with eight points, eight rebounds, and tied Wilt for the game-high in assists with five. Haley Hicks (Wylie, TX/Wylie East) also secured eight boards while contributing four assists and a pair of blocks.

Jordan Niles led Alfred State in scoring with 16 points, while Taylor Benjamin had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Pioneers.

Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a modest advantage in the first quarter. Two baskets from Kuzminski, a McCracken layup, and an Irvin three-pointer helped the Lions to a 9-2 advantage just over a minute into the game. Jump shots by Sayles and Wilt, along with another Irvin three ball, boosted Penn State Altoona's lead to 19-8 by the 3:36 mark, and Irvin nailed her third trey of the period at 2:58 to make it 22-10. Alfred State pushed back after that, outscoring the Lions 6-0 the rest of the quarter to whittle Penn State Altoona's advantage to 22-16.

Two jumpers from Sayles helped the Lions get back on track early in the second quarter. Kuzminski tacked four more points on to Penn State Altoona's total before a Wilt bucket at 3:31 set Penn State Altoona's lead at eight points, 32-24. Scoring slowed down over the remainder of the period, and Wilt's jump shot at 1:19 helped the Lions to a 34-26 advantage, which the visitors carried into halftime.

Penn State Altoona broke the game open in the third quarter, during which it outscored the Pioneers 19-8. A Kuzminski layup and Irvin basket got things started for the Lions, and Kuzminski's putback at 5:44 increased her team's advantage to 40-28. Multiple offensive rebounds on Penn State Altoona's next possession led to a McCracken three-pointer that made it 43-28 at the 5:10 mark, and free throws from Sayles and Wilt later helped the Lions increase their lead to beyond 20 points, 49-28. Penn State Altoona got a layup from McCracken and jumper from Sayles after that, and the Lions held a 53-34 lead through three quarters.

Wilt and Hicks made shots for Penn State Altoona in the opening two-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, but Alfred State began to surge back and cut its deficit to 10 points, 57-47, on a Niles layup at 6:30. The Lions bounced back after that, using a pair of foul shots from Wilt and another three-pointer by Irvin to grow their lead to 15 points, 62-47, with 3:33 remaining. Penn State Altoona's lead stood up the rest of the way, as the Lions prevailed by 15 to notch their 13th AMCC victory of the season.

Penn State Altoona ran up a 53-35 advantage over Alfred State in rebounds, including 16 offensive boards that helped translate to 18 second-chance points.

Next, the Penn State Altoona women's basketball team will head into the AMCC postseason, beginning with a first-round game at home on Tuesday, February 24. The Lions have locked up the number three seed in the tournament and will host sixth-seed Hilbert College in that contest. Start time is set for 7 p.m.