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Long-range shooting key for PSU Altoona

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

Three-point goals are to basketball what home runs are to baseball.

They both provide instant offense, and a big spurt to a team’s momentum.

The Penn State Altoona women’s basketball team rode five 3-pointers — two apiece by Tyrone grad Finnley Christine and Claysburg-Kimmel product Paige Burk, and another by Penn Cambria grad Kaley Strittmatter — to carry the fourth quarter en route to a 68-60 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory over Mount Aloysius College at the Adler Arena Wednesday night.

“I think our outside shooting is something that we’ve been struggling with,” said Christine, a junior guard who scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, which Penn State Altoona carried, 27-16. “We worked on it a lot in practice, and it helped.

“When our team is on from the 3-(point range), we’re really hard to defend,” Christine added.

Mount Aloysius led most of the game and took a 46-43 advantage on sophomore forward Rachel Robinson’s free throw early in the fourth quarter.

Burk, a junior guard, then put Penn State Altoona (2-2 overall, 1-0 conference) into the lead for good with a pair of 3-pointers. Burk hit a game-tying shot from the left side, and canned another trey from the top of the circle to give the Lady Lions a 49-46 lead with seven minutes left.

“I wasn’t making them at the beginning,” said Burk, who scored 11 points. “It was nice when I could at the end, when some (shots) really mattered. I’m happy.”

After Christine hit her first of two 3-pointers from the deep left corner to put Penn State Altoona ahead, 52-46, Mount Aloysius pulled to within 52-49 on a 3-point play by Bishop Carroll product Lea Sammarco, who led the Mount scoring attack with 21 points.

But Penn State Altoona answered with five straight points to take command, 58-49 with 3:46 left. Christine hit another 3-pointer from the left corner, Strittmatter converted one of two free throws, and Christine converted a steal into a layup to comprise the run.

Along with Christine’s 26 points and Burk’s 11, junior guard/forward Strittmatter scored 12 and sophomore guard/forward Alexis Cannistraci — a Tyrone product who led the team in scoring with a 17-points-per-game average entering Wednesday’s contest — chipped in 11 for Penn State Altoona.

Mount Aloysius coach Brian Giesler, whose team is winless in six games after dropping its conference opener Wednesday, was impressed by Penn State Altoona’s offensive versatility.

“They’re very tough to play against — they have so many shooters, and it’s hard to take them all away,” Giesler said. “They’re a very good basketball team, and this is the first time that we’ve been in a close game this year. I think we got a little bit flustered.”

After building its 58-49 lead, Penn State Altoona held serve down the home stretch. Robinson’s free throw pulled the Mount to within 64-57 with 1:23 left, before Strittmatter’s free throw and two more by Christine expanded the Penn State Altoona lead to 67-57 with 30 seconds left.

Penn State Altoona coach Casey Wilt said that her team sped up the tempo later in the game, and felt that doing so made a big difference.

“We started out slow, and (the coaches) challenged the girls to start moving the ball quickly,” Wilt said. “Once we moved at a faster pace, our offense as a whole increased. Moving at a high speed works best for us. We’re a much more efficient team when we play at a higher speed.”

That showed in the fourth quarter.

“We scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, we played unselfishly, and we were looking to execute with who was open,” Wilt said. “We got some nice open shots, especially in the corner.”

Game notes: Senior guard Breana Kendrick, a Tussey Mountain product, scored 16 points for Mount Aloysius, while sophomore guard Machala Gibbons was also in double figures with 10 … Penn State Altoona won the battle of the boards, 52-48, with Cannistraci grabbing 15 rebounds. Kendrick had 10 rebounds for Mount Aloysius … Both teams are back in action in conference games Saturday afternoon. Penn State Altoona travels to Pittsburgh for a matchup with LaRoche College, while Mount Aloysius hosts Medaille.

MOUNT ALOYSIUS (60): Gibbons 3-11 3-4 10, Kendrick 4-19 8-8 16, Sammarco 8-16 1-1 21, Kitko 1-3 0-0 2, Showalter 1-9 0-0 2, Robinson 2-9 4-8 9, King 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 19-67 16-21 60.

PENN STATE ALTOONA (68): Strittmatter 4-11 3-6 12, Burk 4-10 0-0 11, Christine 9-17 2-2 26, Cannistraci 3-11 5-6 11, Stevens 2-5 1-2 5, S. Snyder 0-10 0-0 0, M. Snyder 1-1 0-2 2, Borlie 0-4 0-0 0, Paul 0-1 0-0 0, Lehman 0-1 1-2 1. Totals — 23-71 12-20 68.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mount Aloysius 20 11 13 16 — 60

Penn State Altoona 11 15 15 27 — 68

3-point goals: Mount Aloysius 6-32 (Gibbons 1-7, Kendrick 0-4, Sammarco 4-10, Kitko 0-1, Showalter 0-6, Robinson 1-4); Penn State Altoona 10-36 (Strittmatter 1-4, Burk 3-7, Christine 6-11, Cannistraci 0-5, Stevens 0-1, S. Snyder 0-7, Borlie 0-1). Assists: Mount Aloysius 11 (Gibbons 6); Penn State Altoona 17 (Stevens 6). Rebounds: Mount Aloysius 48 (Kendrick 10); Penn State Altoona 52 (Cannistraci 15). Total fouls: Mount Aloysius 15, Penn State Altoona 14.

Attendance: 287. Officials: Sarah Fye, Charles Glasser, Todd Parker.

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