Penn State Altoona has enjoyed just that as the season comes down the home stretch as Altoona Area graduate Lanie Wilt, along with Ellie Irvin, have not only shown that they can hold their own, but also thrive.

The freshman guard combo combined scored 49 points total Wednesday night to help lead the Lady Lions to their seventh straight win, this time over Mount Aloysius, 80-66, at the Adler Arena.

“They both handle the ball really well and they make good decisions on offense,” Penn State Altoona coach Halee Hutchinson said. “Ellie anytime we need a clutch point, she’s there to hit it and Lanie just runs our entire offense. They both know their role and they do it very well.”

Wilt sparked the Lions after some early back-and-forth play midway through the first quarter, as she knocked down one of her three 3-pointers which helped build a 17-9 lead.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Mount Aloysius' Molly Kosmack is pressured by Penn State Altoona's Halle Kuzminski (left) and Avana Sayles.

The Lady Mounties answered and cut the deficit to one, as Homer-Center’s own Molly Kosmack drew the bonus free-throw to cut the deficit down to one. She had a double-double, scoring 21 points with 10 rebounds and five assists.

But Wilt answered for the Lady Lions, following a missed free–throw as she put away the jumper for two of her game-high 28 points, and added nine rebounds as her squad took a 25-20 lead after the first.

“Wilt controls the game,” Mount Aloysius coach Brian Giesler said. “She’s the (AMCC) newcomer of the year in my mind. She’s got my vote today. It’s not changing. She’s that good. She handles (the game) like a junior or senior. That makes things a little bit tougher.”

Wilt’s tear continued as she took a feed from Irvin for a layup before adding another three to put Penn State Altoona up 39-27 with about seven minutes left in the half. She scored 22 points in the first half alone.

“She has a lot of poise and that’s something that she brought in here; We did not teach her that,” Hutchinson said. “She has two speeds as well which helps us a lot.

“People are trying to double her, she’s able to get around them because she’s able to use her body and two speeds. We ask a lot of Lanie and she stepped up to take on that role.”

The Lady Lions carried a 53-36 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Lady Mounties provided a scare as Kosmack added the bonus free throw to cut the deficit to 63-56.

Bellwood-Antis’ Jaidyn McCracken thwarted those efforts as she drained one from downtown to make it 66-58 after the third. Penn State Altoona shot 41 percent from beyond the arc.

“I don’t think you can prepare for them to shoot the way they did and think you’re going to win the game very often,” Giesler said. “We got blitzed and they were ready to go. The tough part is when you have to exert that much effort to get back into a game, it’s really difficult to get all of it (back).”

Turnovers were extremely helpful for the Lady Lions as well as they outscored the Mount, 19-4, off the takeaway.

Irvin put the game away early in the fourth with a 3-pointer and added another jumper as she finished with 21 points and four assists.

“Ellie was coming off the bench and we unfortunately had an injury so she is now starting,” Hutchinson said. “It was no step off with her. She came in and did what she had to do.

“She plays hard and I asked her to step up her defense and she’s been stepping that up. She’s done everything I’ve asked.”

Hutchinson is looking forward with excitement to their final three regular- season games which also includes a chance to potentially earn a first-round bye in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament.

“The most exciting thing is that they don’t care who’s scoring,” she said. “They share the ball, and we’ve been having so many assists and so many offensive rebounds that they just want to win together as a team.”

MOUNT ALOYSIUS (8-14): Reed 2-7 0-0 5, Isaacs 2-8 0-0 6, Richards 2-11 5-5 10, Barr 4-10 0-0 8, Kosmack 5-8 11-12 21, Ross 2-2 0-0 4, Brown 1-5 0-0 2, Doyle 1-2 0-0 2, Weaver 2-3 4-6 8, Hall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-56 20-23 66.

PENN STATE ALTOONA (16-6): Irvin 8-16 0-0 21, McCracken 3-9 0-0 8, Wilt 9-23 7-8 28, Sayles 6-14 0-0 12, Kuzminski 2-3 0-0 4, Hicks 1-7 2-2 4, Stephens 1-4 0-0 3, Schirato 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-76 9-10 80.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Mount Aloysius 20 16 22 8 – 66

Penn State Altoona 25 28 13 14 – 80

3-point goals – Mount Aloysius 4-16 (Reed 1-5, Isaacs 2-6, Brown 1-5); Penn State Altoona 11-27 (McCracken 2-6, Irvin 5-11, Wilt 3-6, Stephens 1-4). Assists – Mount Aloysius 11 (Kosmack 5); Penn State Altoona 14 (McCrackin, Irvin 4). Rebounds – Mount Aloysius 42 (Kosmack 10); Penn State Altoona 40 (Hicks 11). Total Fouls – Mount Aloysius 9, Penn State Altoona 17. Technical Fouls – Kosmack.