By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

MONT ALTO, Pa. – The Penn State Mont Alto women's basketball team played some of its strongest basketball of the 2019-20 season in the fourth quarter on Wednesday evening pushing past the Christendom Crusaders by a 70-47 score. The Nittany Lions won their third-straight to improve to 4-9 overall.

Both teams were sloppy in possession to open the game, but Mont Alto still managed to take a 6-4 lead and forced a visitors timeout after a Mariah Martin (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) layup. PSUMA's biggest lead of the quarter was 11-5, but the Crusaders finished the final 3:56 of the period on a 7-2 run to close the deficit to 13-12.

Christendom grabbed its first lead of the game on a Kate Walz trey with 8:55 left to make it 16-14. The Nittany Lions played a zone defense within the period that forced a total of nine Christendom turnovers. The Crusaders also only shot 26.7% from the field within the quarter, which allowed Mont Alto to take the 29-24 lead into halftime.

It was a cold-shooting third quarter by both teams as it was an even scoring 12-12 with PSUMA taking the 41-36 lead into the final 10 minutes. Mont Alto began to pull away as they saw their shots fall in as they were absolutely on fire from the field finishing 12-of-17. The Nittany Lions also splashed a 3-pointer from Kara Newell (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) with 3:47 left that put them up 64-42. PSUMA cruised for the remainder of the game.

Three different players finished in double figures for Mont Alto including Jesime Freet (Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle) who had a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Mariah Martin (Shippensburg, Pa. / Shippensburg) also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Up next, Mont Alto returns to PSUAC action this Saturday in a road contest with Penn State York. Game time is slated for 1 p.m.