News Release

Huntingdon, PA: — The Penn State Altoona women's basketball team could not overcome a season-high 33 turnovers Tuesday night at Juniata en route to the 89-49 non-conference setback. The Lions were up 18-17 with 8:54 left in the first half before things slowly began to unravel. Sparked by an Ali Meckey three-pointer, the Lady Eagles reeled off 14 straight points and were ahead 31-18 just four minutes later. Juniata took a 42-28 into halftime and would never let Altoona get back in the game. Juniata began the second half on a 7-0 run before two Erin McGowan free throws cut the deficit with 15:52 remaining. The Lions sliced the lead down to 14 at the 13:00 mark but that was as close as the Lady Eagles allowed, outscoring Altoona 39-13 to set the final. Shanise Thornton was the only Penn State Altoona player in double figures, netting 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Brittany Poorman and Kirstin Twardon each chipped in with nine. For the Lady Eagles, who made 11 three-pointers in the game, Meckey was the sparkplug, tallying a game-high 25 points including seven treys. She was aided by Claudia McDowell (17 points, 6 assists), Jess Winemiller (16 points, 4 rebounds), and Kelly Ashcraft (10 points, 9 rebounds) as the Lady Eagles improved to 3-0 on the young season. Altoona, who fell to 1-2 overall, will return from Thanksgiving break to host La Roche in the team's AMCC opener on November 29. Tip off for the women's game is set for 6:00 PM.