Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford returned to action in KOA Arena on Wednesday, hosting Penn State-Altoona in AMCC action. Starting guards Dalayla Alexander and Amber Murak combined for 41 points in an 89-51 loss to the Lions.
The Panthers took an early lead to begin the contest, answering an opening free throw with a midrange jumper by Ella Gettings. The visitors quickly responded with a pair of layups before Alexander hit a floating shot in the lane with 7:20 on the clock. Unfortunately, Pitt-Bradford was unable to maintain its momentum and went into a scoring drought as the Lions scored 16 of the next 18 points. Gettings made a putback layup to end the streak, but Penn State Altoona quickly answered with 7 in a row. Murak made a short jump shot with 30 seconds remaining as the Panthers trailed 30-10 after one quarter.
Penn State-Altoona scored 12 of 13 points to open the second quarter. The Panthers were not able to score from the field until Alexander made a jump shot after 4 minutes of play. She followed that basket with a three from the wing before the Lions extended their advantage with a 7-0 run. Murak added two more baskets late in the quarter; however, the Lions scored 4 points in the last 12 seconds of the half to take a 55-20 lead to the break.
Molly Cady got the Panthers started in the second half, making a putback layup after the visitors opened the period with 5 quick points. With a little over four minutes left in the quarter, Murak turned a pair of Gettings steals into layups 20 seconds apart. The steals were part of a nearly 5-minute stretch to close the quarter, where the Panthers kept the Lions off the board. Gettings made a free throw, and Alexander added a late three to end the third.
The Panthers had their best offensive output in the fourth quarter, matching the 19 scored by their opponents in the period. Murak scored 7 of the first 8 Pitt-Bradford points in the quarter, making a pair of midrange jumpshots and a three. Alexander followed the Murak longball with a three of her own before Murak added another layup to force a Penn State-Altoona timeout. The break stopped the Panthers' momentum, and the Lions followed it with a 10-0 run. In the final minute, Murak made a pair of baskets to close the contest.
Amber Murak led all scorers with 23 points. She shot 50% from the field, making 11 of 22 shots from the field. Dalatla Alexander added 18 points. She was 6-18 shooting, including 3-8 from beyond the arc. Ella Gettings scored 7 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds. Raquel Sewell also reached double figures in rebounding, finishing with 10.
The Panthes fall to 0-17 on the season with a 0-9 record in AMCC play. They will face a tough task over the weekend, as they travel to first-place LaRoche for another AMCC tilt. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.
