Penn State Behrend Lions Drop Medaille, 59-47, in AMCC Contest

On Wednesday, January 14, the Penn State Behrend Lions (5-7, 3-3) hosted the Medaille Mavericks for their first league contest of the second half and earned the 12 point win.

Behrend had lost ten of its past eleven contests against the three time defending champions, but put the rest of the AMCC on notice with the important league victory.

The blue and white entered the contest having split its last two non-conference games while Medaille entered the game with an 8-4 overall record, but was coming off an eight-point overtime loss to Pitt-Greensburg and held a 4-1 AMCC mark.

The first twenty minutes of Wednesday night's AMCC match-up went back-and-forth with several lead changes. At the 9:50 mark, Behrend's Kim Pol (Erie/Central) connected on a lay-in to cut into Medaille's lead. She followed two possessions later with another drive to provide the blue and white with a 14-13 advantage. Then at the 6:51 mark, the Mavericks hit for two scores off Behrend turnovers, but Behrend responded with a 10-9 run to enter the break with a 24-22 lead. Kelly Nowacinski (Erie/Mercyhurst Prep) lead all scorers with nine points. Christine Krankota (Conneaut Lake/Conneaut Lake) worked to pull down five first-half rebounds.

At the 12:03 mark of the second half, Amy Oldach's (Erie/Villa Maria) driving lay-up provided Behrend with a 40-28 lead. The Mavericks could not get closer than nine, as Behrend claimed the 59-47 win.

For the game, the Behrend Lions defense restricted the Mavericks to 28% shooting from the floor and forced them into 32 turnovers. Offensively, Behrend was led by Nowacinski's 15 points. Oldach chipped in 14 points and had three assists, steals and rebounds.

Next up for the blue and white will be another home game on Saturday, January 17. Behrend welcomes Franciscan (3-4, 1-3) to the Junker Center at 1:00 p.m. The Barons are the newest members of the AMCC. This will mark the first ever contest between these teams. Then the Behrend Lions will compete at Pitt-Bradford on January 19.