ERIE — The third-seeded Penn State Altoona women’s basketball team’s Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament run came to an end Saturday afternoon in the Junker Center, where the Lions lost 78-61 to top-seeded Penn State Behrend in the league championship game.

Behrend powered its way to an 18-point lead midway through the first quarter, forcing Penn State Altoona (20-8) to play catch-up for the rest of the game. The Lions managed to trim their deficit to single digits in the second and third quarters, but Behrend maintained its lead and won by 17 points.

Lanie Wilt, an Altoona graduate, had team-highs for Penn State Altoona with 18 points and five assists, while Jaidyn McCracken, a Bellwood-Antis graduate, added 11 points and four rebounds. Both Wilt and McCracken were named to the AMCC All-Tournament team.

PENN STATE ALTOONA (61): McCracken 4-10 0-0 11, Sayles 3-10 2-2 8, Kuzminski 2-4 0-0 4, Irvin 2-5 0-0 6, Wilt 7-15 2-3 18, Stephens 1-5 0-0 3, Painter 0-0 0-0 0, Hicks 4-8 3-3 11. Totals — 23-57 7-8 61.

PENN STATE BEHREND (78): Fabin 14-21 1-2 32, Altavilla 6-13 0-2 13, Palladino 5-10 0-0 14, Balaski 2-10 0-2 4, Boyer 6-10 1-2 15, Garrity 0-1 0-0 0, Marsteller 0-1 0-0 0, McQuiston 0-3 0-0 0. Totals — 33-69 2-8 78.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn State Altoona 13 11 18 19 — 61

Penn State Behrend 25 9 24 20 — 78

3-point goals: Penn State Altoona 8-23 (McCracken 3-9, Wilt 2-4, Irvin 2-5, Stephens 1-5); Penn State Behrend 10-30 (Palladino 4-7, Fabin 3-5, Boyer 2-5, Altavilla 1-5, Garrity 0-1, Marsteller 0-1, McQuiston 0-2, Balaski 0-4). Assists: Penn State Altoona 13 (Wilt 5); Penn State Behrend 19 (Balaski 6). Rebounds: Penn State Altoona 26 (Sayles 7); Penn State Behrend 45 (Fabin 16).

Records: Penn State Altoona (20-8); Penn State Behrend (22-5).

Flash clinch NEC spot

LORETTO — In a season Saint Francis celebrated its rich Northeast Conference women’s basketball history, the team earned its 400th win in NEC history in its final home game.

Aleah James scored 18 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to help the Red Flash rally from a 10-point first-half deficit for an 82-63 win against CCSU on Saturday.

It was a big day for the program, which also clinched a spot in the upcoming NEC Tournament, and active head coach Raphael McNeill earned his first win as a head coach.

Gemma Walker added 17 points, Bati Assefa had an NEC-high 14 points, and Sonia Sato chipped in 11 points.

Kiyah Lewis scored 36 points for CCSU.

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE (63): Lewis 11-25 13-15 36, Patrick 3-7 4-4 10, Noin 1-4 4-4 6, Pearson 1-8 1-2 3, Ramos 1-3 0-0 2, Toure 2-6 0-0 4, Barnes 1-2 0-0 2, Stevens 0-1 0-0 0, Lykaki 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 20-56 22-25 63.

SAINT FRANCIS (82): Walker 4-10 8-9 17, Assefa 6-10 0-0 14, Sato 4-8 3-6 11, Ward 3-7 0-0 6, Ricks 1-4 2-2 4, James 9-16 2-4 21, Thornhill 2-5 0-0 5, Hawthorne 2-4 0-1 4, Minnis 0-2 0-0 0, Eke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 31-66 15-22 82.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Connecticut State 17 16 16 14 — 63

Saint Francis 14 15 28 25 — 82

3-point goals: Central Connecticut State 1-11 (Lewis 1-5, Patrick 0-1, Noin 0-2, Pearson 0-3); Saint Francis 5-20 (Assefa 2-4, James 1-3, Thornhill 1-3, Walker 1-4, Ward 0-1, Ricks 0-1, Hawthorne 0-1, Minnis 0-1, Sato 0-2). Assists: Central Connecticut State 10 (Pearson 6); Saint Francis 14 (Ricks 4). Rebounds: Central Connecticut State 41 (Lewis 11); Saint Francis 33 (Sato 6).

Records: CCSU (1-27, 1-16 in NEC); Saint Francis (3-25, 3-14 in NEC).

PSU season ends

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Penn State women’s basketball team fell to Indiana, 93-59, inside Assembly Hall in its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Lions dropped to 11-18 overall, 4-14 Big Ten and did not secure one of the top 15 spots in league and did not qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.

The Hoosiers improved to 17-13, 6-12 Big Ten.

Redshirt junior guard Gracie Merkle led Penn State with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt junior guard Moriah Murray scored 12 points, and freshman forward Nyla McFadden added 11 points and five rebounds.

PENN ST. (11-18): Merkle 9-17 4-4 22, Cleante 2-6 0-0 4, McFadden 4-10 2-2 11, McMiller 1-12 2-2 4, Murray 4-13 0-0 12, Evans 1-2 0-0 2, Mendelson 0-1 0-0 0, Okokoh 0-0 0-0 0, Ranisavljevic 1-3 2-4 4, Santana 0-3 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Steele 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-67 10-12 59

INDIANA (17-13): Makalusky 5-10 2-2 15, Noyan 2-3 0-0 5, Beaumont 5-11 7-7 18, Caffey 6-12 5-6 18, Ciezki 12-18 2-2 29, Ondineme 2-5 0-0 4, Wiseman 0-0 0-0 0, Kiaku 0-1 2-2 2, Spreen 0-0 2-2 2, Stotijn 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 32-61 20-21 93

Penn St. 8 15 20 16 — 59

Indiana 31 26 15 21 — 93

3-Point Goals–Penn St. 5-26 (Cleante 0-2, McFadden 1-4, McMiller 0-3, Murray 4-10, Evans 0-1, Mendelson 0-1, Ranisavljevic 0-2, Santana 0-3), Indiana 9-25 (Makalusky 3-8, Noyan 1-1, Beaumont 1-4, Caffey 1-3, Ciezki 3-7, Kiaku 0-1, Stotijn 0-1). Assists–Penn St. 14 (Merkle 4), Indiana 15 (Caffey 5). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Penn St. 34 (Merkle 10), Indiana 39 (Ondineme 8). Total Fouls–Penn St. 21, Indiana 18. Technical Fouls–None. A–8,447.