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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
CRESSON -- The 3-point field goal not only provides a basketball team with extra points, but it can also shift the momentum of a game in a team's favor.
The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team provided a case in point Wednesday night, hitting 12 of 25 shots from behind the arc and riding a strong second half to an 82-74 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory over Mount Aloysius at the Mount Aloysius Convocation Center.
Two products of Peters Township High School in suburban Pittsburgh -- sophomore forward Avana Sayles and junior guard Jordan Bisignani -- paced Penn State Altoona (11-9 overall and 8-5 in the AMCC) with a game-high 28 and 20 points, respectively.
Bisignani connected on all six of her 3-point attempts, including four in the second half.
"We haven't shot that well lately, so we needed this tonight,'' Penn State Altoona coach Halee Adams said. "Defenses typically crash down on Avana Sayles in the paint, and she has been doing an excellent job of kicking the ball out. We typically play an inside-out game, and we've been getting a lot more 3's lately. Jordan Bisignani going 6-for-6 on 3-point shots is incredible.''
While Penn State Altoona shot 48 percent from 3-point range, Mount Aloysius (9-11, 6-7) converted just five of 26 such attempts for a 19.2 percent clip. Mount Aloysius coach Brian Giesler felt that made a big difference in the final outcome.
"I think that it's really hard to win a game when you're facing a team that shoots the 3-point shot as well as Penn State Altoona did tonight, and when, at the same time, your team is not shooting the 3-point shot that well. I think that was pretty much the tale of the tape tonight,'' he said.
Mount Aloysius bolted to an early 15-4 lead in the first quarter, but Penn State Altoona whittled that deficit to just one point, 34-33, by intermission.
Penn State Altoona rode the momentum into the third quarter, opening the period on a 13-2 run to take a 46-36 lead.
Sophomore guard Jess Burns - a South Fayette High School product who scored 12 points in the game - started the surge with a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give PSU Altoona a 36-34 lead.
Sayles cashed in an assist from Bisignani underneath the basket for a field goal, and former Bellwood-Antis star Jaidyn McCracken, a sophomore who scored 13 in the game, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to make give PSU Altoona a 41-36 edge.
Sayles converted a jumper from the top of the key, and Bisignani drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle, completing the run for PSU Altoona, which carried the third quarter, 25-18, to take a 58-52 lead after three periods.
"Give them a lot of credit, they were prepared in the second half,'' Giesler said of Penn State Altoona. "Their zone (defense) gave us some issues, and we got off to a poor start in the half with a lot of empty possessions and turnovers.
"Unfortunately, we were two teams going in opposite directions there,'' Giesler added.
Penn State Altoona had dropped six of its previous seven games before Wednesday, and was in dire need of a morale boost.
"We had been in a losing stretch, and we needed this game tonight,'' said Adams, whose team won both of its meetings with Mount Aloysius this season. "We switched from a 2-3 defense to a zone defense in the second half, and our players came out in the second half with a little bit of an edge. I'm proud of them.''
Mount Aloysius - which got double-figure scoring outputs from four players, led by freshman forward Molly Kosmack's 21 points and 19 from sophomore guard Jade Love-Morris - drew to within four points, 58-54, early in the fourth quarter on two Morris free throws.
But Penn State Altoona used a 10-point run to take a 68-54 advantage and pull away for good.
Bisignani hit two 3-pointers and Sayles converted a field goal and two free throws during the 10-point spurt. Along with her game-high 28 points, Sayles also collected a game-high 11 rebounds.
"She has been our go-to player the last two years, and she had her best game tonight,'' Adams said of Sayles. "I challenged her to get more rebounds, and she did very well with that tonight.''
Both teams play again on Saturday, when Penn State Altona travels to Alfred State and Mount Aloysius visits Carlow.
PENN STATE ALTOONA (82): Green 0-3 6-10 6, McCracken 5-15 0-0 13, Sayles 11-20 6-6 28, Burns 4-10 1-2 12, Bisignani 6-8 2-8 20, McCaulsky 0-1 1-2 1, Figard 1-5 0-0 2. Totals - 27-62 16-28 82.
MOUNT ALOYSIUS (74): Kosmack 8-14 5-5 21, Clemons 0-5 0-0 0, Holland 2-7 2-3 6, Kohlwaies 5-15 0-0 13, Love-Morris 8-14 3-4 19, Richards 5-0 0-0 12, Isaacs 1-4 0-0 2, Drutarosky 0-1 1-2 1, Dugan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals - 29-70 11-14 74.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn State Altoona 10 23 25 24 -- 82
Mount Aloysius 18 16 18 22 -- 74
3-point goals: Penn State Altoona 12-25: (Bisignani 6-6, Burns 3-6, McCracken 3-12, McCaulsky 0-1). Mount Aloysius 5-26 (Kohlwaies 3-9, Richards 2-6, Clemons 0-5, Holland 0-2, Isaacs 0-2, Love-Morris 0-1, Drutarosky 0-1). Assists: Penn State Altoona 18 (McCracken 6); Mount Aloysius 14 (Love-Morris 6). Rebounds: Penn State Altoona 31 (Sayles 11); Mount Aloysius 35 (Kosmack 10); Fouled out–None. Personal fouls--Penn State Altoona 14, Mount Aloysius 22. Technical fouls–None. Att.--237.
Officials: Chuck Glasser, Sarah Fye, Brad Sinclair.
Records: Penn State Altoona (11-9 overall, 8-5 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference); Mount Aloysius (9-11, 6-7).