Box Score Altoona, PA – The D'Youville women's basketball team lost their second consecutive game on Saturday afternoon after being defeated by the Penn State-Altoona Lions by the final score of 65-58.
D'Youville and Altoona were tied at 5 through 3:03 of play after Sarah Marino (Buffalo, NY/Holy Angels Academy) tied the game on a three-pointer. The Lions began to pull away from the Spartans, outscoring them 13-5 through the end of the quarter to lead D'Youville 18-10 at the end of the first.
The Spartans pulled to within 6 points of the Lion lead after baskets from Alexis Smith (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) and Jean-Ann Korona (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville). D'Youville went scoreless for 6 minutes, giving Altoona the opportunity to take a commanding lead.
Danette Laguerre (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) make a free-throw to end the Lion's 11-0 scoring run. Marino and Korona scored the last 4 points of the quarter and Altoona would lead D'Youville 37-19 at halftime.
Both teams struggled on offense in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Alexis Smith broke the drought with 6:13 to go in the third and cut the Spartan's deficit to 16. D'Youville's offense came alive with a layup from Monica June (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech). Hannah Simone (Wayland, NY/Bishop Kearney) scored 5 points in a span of 1:30 along with 2 points from Korona, cutting their deficit to 8.
Back-to-back layups from Laguerre and Colleen Wirth (Elma, NY/Iroquois) got the Spartans to back within 4 with 1:14 left in the third quarter and looking make a push in the fourth quarter for the lead. However, the Lions ended the third with 6 unanswered points and took a 44-34 lead into the fourth quarter.
Just 0:10 into the final quarter, Magan Magee (Ellenburg Center, NY/Northern Adirondack) hit a three and the Spartans were down 7. The Lions pushed their lead back to 10 with 7:16 left in the game, but a three from Simone, a jumper from Darian Evans (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) and a layup from Wirth brought the Spartans to within 3 with 5:51 to go.
A three-pointer from Altoona gave them a 6 point lead but again the three freshmen Magee, Evans and Wirth kept the Spartans within a basket of taking the lead. Magee answered with her own three to again trim the deficit to 3. Evans then made another jumper and D'Youville was in a point of the lead at 55-54 with 4:39 to go. Altoona answered with a layup but Wirth struck back with her own layup and the team was down a point once again.
On the following possession, Wirth forced a turnover and dished the ball to June who gave the Spartans a 58-57 lead with 4:00 to go in the game. However, D'Youville's offense went cold for the rest of the game and the Lions went on an 8-point scoring run to win the game by the final of 65-58.
Three players tied for the team's scoring lead in the game. Jean-Ann Korona, Hannah Simone and Alexis Smith each scored 8 points. Magan Magee had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in the game. Backcourt-mate Danette Laguerre brought in 6 rebounds with 2 assists, 3 steals, 6 points and a block. Sarah Marino added 5 points and 4 rebounds.
Freshmen Darian Evans and Colleen Wirth had breakout games for the Spartans. Evans grabbed a team high 8 rebounds and scored 6 points in the game. Wirth 7 rebounds to go with her team high 4 assists, recording 2 steals and 6 points.
Monica June had 4 points in the game, while freshman Jordan Smith (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) started her fourth consecutive game. Sophomore Ali Cochrane (New Port Richey, FL/Gulf) had a rebound and an assist.
D'Youville will complete their current 3-game road trip on Thursday, January 21st at 8pm at Penn State-Behrend.
