WILKES-BARRE – Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) put up a season-high 21 points as the Wilkes women's basketball team continued their unbeaten streak after a 78-62 victory in the team's home opener against the Penn State Altoona Lions.

The Colonels improve to 4-0 on the year under new head coach Al Berger, while the Lions fall to 2-3 with the loss. The 4-0 start for Wilkes is the best for the program since starting 8-0 during the 2002-2003 season.

Wilkes opened the game with an 11-2 run punctuated by nine points from Matos. It took three minutes for Altoona to score another bucket and began a five-point run to make it an 11-7 game with less than five minutes left in the quarter. Wilkes did not relinquish their lead and finished the quarter up 20-12.  Matos dominated the first frame, finishing with 15 points. The Colonels also picked Penn State's pocket six times, with two steals each for Nadia Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) and Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township).

The Lions kept up with the Colonels early in the second quarter, with five points apiece through the first two minutes of play boosting the score to 25-17. In a back-and-forth quarter, three makes from beyond the arc helped the Colonels narrowly out-score the Lions 19-16 and take a 39-28 lead into halftime. Reagan Holden (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Wilkes-Barre Area), Emma Stout (Bangor, PA/Bangor), and Julianna Askins (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle) all hit from three in the quarter, while Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) hit two emphatic blocks in the period.

Penn State Altoona opened the second half with a rainbowed triple from Jess Burns, but the Colonels responded well with four points in the paint from Shober to make it a 43-31 game. Following a Jaiydn McCracken layup, the Colonels took a timeout with the score 43-34. An 11-2 run gave the Colonels a 54-36 lead with five minutes played in the quarter, punctuated by a Matos trey. The Lions fought back with an eight-point run of their own late in the frame, cutting the deficit to ten with 2:07 left and the score 54-44 Wilkes. A Matos triple ended the quarter for Wilkes, putting them up 61-49 at the break. Shober exploded in the quarter for a team-best seven points.

Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) opened the scoring in the fourth for the Colonels with a corner three and a drive to the cup to give the Wilkes a 66-51 lead. A steal and finish by Evanosky forced a Lions timeout at 6:11 with the score 68-51 Colonels. Wilkes got right back to work with the same play that forced the timeout, Babcock driving in to score and this time the steal and score by Askins to push the lead to 72-53. Two more tough makes from Wilkes forced another Lions timeout with the score now 76-53. From there, the Colonels rolled to a 78-62 victory and remain unbeaten.

Matos led Wilkes in scoring and rebounds with 21 points and 11 rebounds respectively. Babcock's electric final frame gave her double digits with 13 points. Marino led with three assists, while Babcock and Evanosky each picked up four steals.

McCracken led Penn State Altoona with 26 points and 15 rebounds, both team-highs. Jordan Bisignani led with four assists.

The Colonels take the court next on Wednesday, November 29 as they open Landmark Conference play on the road against the University of Scranton Royals at 7:00 p.m.