PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche women's basketball survived a scare against Penn State-Behrend Wednesday night, keeping their current and AMCC regular season win streaks alive with a fourth-quarter comeback win, 82-78.
The first quarter saw the Redhawks in an unfamiliar position, trailing the Lions 13-8 at the midway point.
Behrend would hold the lead the rest of the quarter, taking a 24-21 lead into the second.
The second quarter saw La Roche finally take a lead, as a 5-0 run when trailing 28-25, made it a 30-28 game.
The teams bounced back and forth with the lead and down the final stretch, of the half, the Lions scored the final four points to take a 40-38 lead into the locker rooms.
Out of the break, the Redhawks had to counter, but a 10-4 opening stretch by Behrend saw the Lions lead grow to 50-42.
A 7-0 by La Roche countered to trim the deficit down to just 50-49, but Behrend would use the final 3:15 to outscore the Redhawks and take a 60-54 lead into the fourth.
In the final 10 minutes of play, La Roche did exactly what it needed to do to salvage the streaks.
Over the opening 4:30 of play in the final frame, the Redhawks caught fire, using a 13-2 run to open a 67-62 lead, their largest of the game.
From that point, La Roche never allowed the game to come closer than three points and sealed the comeback victory.
For the game, the Redhawks shot 41.7% (30-for-72) from the floor and 8-for-21 (38.1%) from deep. From the charity stripe, they went 14-for-25 (56%).
A key figure in the stat sheet was the rebounding margin, won by La Roche, 41-30 and second chance points, 29-11.
On the other side, the Lions went on to shoot 49.1% (28-for-57) from the field. Behrend shot 9-for-17 (52.9%) from deep, but after being 8-for-10 in the first three quarters, went just 1-for-7 in the fourth. From the foul line, the Lions shot 13-for-14 (92.9%)
All five Redhawk starters hit for double figures, with Machia Hairston leading the charge.
Hairston put together a 20-20 performance with 21 points and 20 rebounds, 12 of which were offensive, alongside six assists and three steals.
Jazmine Dunn followed with 18 points, three assists and five steals, while Dasja Anderson netted 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Makayla Abram ended the night with 14 points and five rebounds and Alexis Robison hit four shots from deep for 12 points to go with four rebounds.
La Roche hits the road on Saturday, Feb. 3 to meet Hilbert, as the Redhawks will look to make it a 10-game winning streak and 40-game AMCC regular season winning streak. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m.