Behrend Women's Basketball Finishes Runners-Up in AMCC Championships

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team fell 71-70 to the La Roche Redhawks in the 2023 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship game on Saturday afternoon.  

Final Score: No. 1 La Roche 71, No. 2 Penn State Behrend 70
Records:  Penn State Behrend (21-6), La Roche (20-7)

Key Moments:

* Machia Hairston made the game-winning layup with seven seconds left to help the Redhawks capture their 10^th overall title
* The Lions were down 69-66 with 1:24 remaining in the game
* Morgan Altavilla (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) made her final basket of the game to give her a team-high 22 points with 1:06 left to get Behrend within one
* La Roche missed on their next trip down and Brianna Dean (New Castle, PA/Neshannock) scored off a pass from Rachel Majewski (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) for a 70-69 lead
* The Redhawks had 13 seconds on the clock to make a play and Hairston pulled through with the layup
* After the Lions timeout, Altavilla drove in for the game-winning layup and was blocked by Hairston to secure the win
* In true championship fashion, the game had 25 lead changes and 10 ties
* La Roche was dominant on the boards, holding a 49-27 advantage and locked down 29 bench points to Behrend's eight
* The Lions held the largest lead of the game at six points and only committing seven turnovers
* Dean had a career-high 17 points and led the team with six rebounds
* Madilyn Boyer (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) played 20 minutes and grabbed six rebounds before getting into foul trouble

Key Moments:

* Majewski and Altavilla were named to the AMCC All-Tournament Team

Next Up:

* The Lions await to see if they will receive a bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament (ECAC)