(PAINESVILLE, OH:)  Lake Erie placed four players in double figures and forced Penn State Altoona into a season-high 33 turnovers en route to a 71-56 victory over the visiting Lions Saturday afternoon.  The Storm, who led from buzzer from buzzer and avenged a 67-64 loss to Altoona on December 8, improved to 12-7 and 10-2 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.  The Lions had their three game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-10 and 6-6 in the AMCC.

The Storm got 25 points off the Altoona miscues and also held a 30-20 advantage in the paint.  LEC made seven more field goals and got 15 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds while limiting the Lions to just two fast break points.

After jumping out to a 10-2 lead, Lake Erie survived a 7-0 spurt and bolstered the lead to 10 (27-17) with 3:03 left in the first half.  The Lions closed the period on a 7-2 run and trailed 29-27 at intermission.  Neither team shot above 30% for the half, and both squads combined for 27 turnovers.

The second period began just like the first as the Storm used a 10-2 run to stake a 39-29 lead just over three minutes in.  Altoona sliced the deficit to five on two different occasions, the latter via an Erin McGowan (Duncansville, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) jumper with 13:56 remaining.  But four different Lake Erie players scored in an ensuing 8-0 run that catapulted the lead to 50-37 just three minutes later.

The Lake Erie advantage would stay double figures the rest of the way as the visitors got no closer than 11.  Jalisa Mitchell scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in the second half and shot 7-14 from the field while teammate Brittany Zele added 14.  Tayla Parnell recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Renese Ames finished with 10.  Danielle Ruggieri had a remarkable 13 of the team's 23 steals on the afternoon.

McGowan turned in another solid performance, firing 7-10 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc to finish with 19.  Mortimer and classmate Alicia Glasser (Marion Center, PA/Marion Center) both chipped in 10.

Lake Erie turned in a brilliant second half shooting performance, connecting on 15-29 field goals (51.7%).  Altoona made just nine field goals per half and finished the day just 31.6% from the floor.   

Penn State Altoona returns to action this Wednesday, February 6, for an AMCC showdown at Pitt-Bradford.  Game time in Bradford is set for 6:00 PM.

CONTACT:        Penn State Altoona Sports Information
                           Steve Crider  --  SID
                           814-949-5173
                           sac310@psu.edu