Behrend Lions Women's Basketball Extends Win Streak with Win Over Hilbert
The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team extended their current win streak to five with a controlling win over the Hilbert Hawks on Wednesday, February 17 in front of the home crowd at the Junker Center. The final score of the contest was 87 to 23.
The first twenty minutes saw domination by the Behrend Lions from the opening tip. The blue and white forced turnover after turnover and turned them into quick points throughout the first half. Taylor Lotis (Jefferson Hills/Thomas Jefferson) knocked down a three early in the half and the scoring barrage began from there. The game was within one point at 5-4, but Behrend would soon go on a 15-0 run to put the game at 19-4 with just over ten minutes left in the half. Behrend would also capatilize on everyone of their free throws going 13 for 13 in the opening half. The score at the end of the first half saw the Behrend Lions up 47-7. The blue and white forced 26 turnovers while only commiting eight. Amy Oldach (Erie/Villa Maria) led the team with nine first half points while Kelly Nowacinski (Erie/Mercyhurst Prep) and Holly Bourquin (Pittsburgh/Fox Chapel) each added eight points apiece. Julie Bossard had three points and four rebounds while Mary Zinni and Amber Grosch each added two points in the first half.
Out of the locker room the blue and white picked up right where they left off by forcing turnovers and turning them into buckets at the other end. The Behrend Lions held their opponents to a measly 18.8% shooting from the floor and did not allow a single three point basket. Nowacinski nailed a three pointer to start the second half and the Behrend Lions never lost stride. The blue and white's lead grew to 57-13 with 15 minutes to play and seemed to get an easy bucket in the paint every trip down the court. The blue and white finished with 42 points in the paint and and forced a total of 34 turnovers. The largest lead for Behrend was at the 4:15 at an astounding 68 points. The scoring was widely distributed with five players scoring in double digits. Bourquin finished with 16 points while Nowacinski had 15 and Lotis had 13. Senior Christine Krankota (Conneaut Lake/Conneaut Lake) played her final regular season home game finishing with five points and three rebounds. The Hawks were led by Grosch with eight points and seven rebounds while Bossard finished with seven points and eight boards.
With the win, Behrend improves their record to 14-9 overall and 12-7 in the AMCC. Hilbert sees their record fall to 0-24 overall and 0-19 in the conference. Next up for the blue and white will be the final regular season and conference game on the road at Penn State Altoona. The game is set to be played on Saturday, February 20 with the tip being at 1:00 p.m. The AMCC Tournament is set to begin on Tuesday, February 23.
