The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, February 13, 2009, Image 9
Friday, February 13, 2009 Lady Lions defeat Penn State Altoona 82-72 continued from front page. Richardson's drive to the basket and dish to junior Christine Krankota made the score 4-2 in favor of the Lady Lions. Oldach scored the next five points for the Lady Lions as she drove to the hoop and banked in a Top: Sophomoir guani Kelly Nowacinski dribbles the ball while looking towards the basket Bottom: Senior guar! Ellen Kolos looks for on open teanmate I~l~~~ t ~~i~y~~~~t~~~ s tilt' 's Now Available Nor ids the new sewbil Mice 44C1 pow located it SW 'WWI Shodlest Cammimaiir Coder DON'T DELAY, SIGN UP TODAY! /"/ (814) 8994160 simirniosoliiinwviireekum Second half 12-0 run brings victory to Behrend layup, made a foul shot, and con nected with Krankota on a give and-go pass for another layup put ting Behrend up 9-3. Senior Natalie Engel's layup gave the Lions a five point lead over Altoona 13-9. Altoona was then forced to call a timeout because of the pressure &deedk melba SPORTS put on by Behrend's defensive full-court press. The timeout did not help Altoona, as Engel drained a three pointer right after, making the game 16-9. Richardson put the Lions up by ten points in the first half when she stole the ball and took it the len.th of the floor for an uncon- ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NAME: Tom Newman SPORT: Men's Basketball CLASS: Senior Penn State Behrend senior Tom Newman (Girard, Pa./Northwestern) was named the Enterprise RENT-A-CAR Athlete of the Week for the week February 9, 2009 Newman Was a key part to the Behrend Lions 2-0 week against AMCC opponents. Newman was 5-for-8 from three-point range against Hilbert on Wednesday. Newman would finish the game with 21 points an, eight rebounds and three assists With his aggressive and hand nosed defense Newman got three steals cleaned up the glass for five boards against conference foe Penn State Altoona on Saturday. He would chip in seven points and four assists in the 77-60 win to keep the blue and white atop the conference standings. Newman is averaging 5.5 rpg and 7.8 ppg in his senior year. Newman is nine points away from reaching 800 points for his career. Newman has also accumulated 420 rebounds• to date in his four years as a Behrei Lion Altoona was winning by eight points, 51-59, with 11:04 in the second half. The Lady Lions closed the scor ing gap to 63-64 as Richardson scored a three-pointer and Engel hit back-to-back threes at 6:55. The Lady Lions then went on a 12-0 run which was the turning point of the game. "The turning point in the game was when we went on our run in the second half," said Richardson. "We were up by ten or so in the first half and then they caught back up. Then in the second half they were up by eight. We went on a run, made a couple clutch three point shots, and went from there. I think once we started making our shots on offense, our defensive intensity picked up causing more turnovers for Altoona and more scoring oppor tunities for us." The Lady Lions performed well in the final four minutes of the "I really liked how my team handled game situations," said Fomari. "They were composed and they listened well strategical ly. When we faced crucial situa tions, they were very focused and they executed really well in the last four minutes." Sophomo►r gum/ Amy Olckith passes the basketball At 3:05 in the second half, Richardson pulled the Lions ahead by one when she made a jump shot in the key. Another clutch three point shot by Richardson put the Lady Lions ahead 74-70. With under two minutes to go, Oldach converted on two free throw attempts and a shot from behind the arc which made the score 79-70 in favor of Behrend. The final score was 82-72 and added another win to the Lady Lions record (11-10, 9-6). Engel had a game high 19 points and was perfect from three point range, going four for four. Olckich contributed 18 points and four assists, Nowacinski scored 15 and also had four assists, while Richardson added 13 points and seven steals. "Truthfully the stalling five [performed well and made an impact in the game]." said Fornari. "They all impacted the game for the last four minutes, and during that stretch we changed the game." According to Fomari, the team is ranked fourth in the AMCC standings behind Pitt-Greensburg, Penn State Altoona, and Frostburg. According to the Behrend web- The Behrend Beacon I 9 site, the women's basketball team is nationally ranked in Division 111 basketball this season. They are currently ranked second in team steals at 17.0 spg. The website stated that in the AMCC, the Lady Lions are ranked number one with almost three more steals per game than any of the other AMCC opponents. Rachel Richardson leads the team in the steal category. Averaging 3.6 spg ranks Richardson 27th nationally. The Lady Lions have three reg ular season games left. The team travels to Franciscan and La Roche before finishing the season at the Junker Center on Feb. 21 against Pitt-Bradford. "All four of these games are key for the rest of our season," said Richardson. "We beat all but Bradford the first time around so for us to win out would be huge. All of these teams have a poten tial at making a run for the play offs, so we control our own des tiny. We have to play each game like we did this past Saturday, with high energy, good pressure, and the want to win."