EBENSBURG, Pa. -- It goes down as a win.

But an escape would be the most apt description of what the Mt. Lebanon girls' basketball team did last night -- even exhausted coach Dori Oldaker agreed to as much afterward.

Mt. Lebanon (29-0) rallied late behind defense and free-throw shooting to earn a 49-45 victory against State College (18-7) in a PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal at Central Cambria High School.

With 38 seconds left, the game was tied, 43-43, before the Blue Devils got two free throws and a layup from Madison Cable sandwiched around a steal from Emily Miller when State College had a chance to tie.

"You can't get rattled, you have to stay the course," said Oldaker, whose team lost in the PIAA title game last season. "We knew coming in that they were going to score some points, we weren't going to shut them out. It was tight, it was tough, but I think we found out what we were made of in those last couple of minutes."

Cable paced the WPIAL champion Blue Devils with 16 points, including seven in the final six minutes. Lauren Arbogast and Jess Babe added nine points each for the Blue Devils, who forced 20 State College turnovers, the majority of those while utilizing three-quarter court pressure.

There was just one problem: When State College broke it -- which was more often than most opponents have this season -- the Little Lions got open looks.

Guard Chrissy Cooper particularly hurt Mt. Lebanon, scoring 18 points while knocking down four 3-pointers.

"We've scouted them, but I can honestly say we never saw them shoot it like that," Oldaker said.

The Blue Devils grabbed a 9-4 lead early in the first quarter but that evaporated into a 14-9 disadvantage as State College used a 10-0 run in the final three minutes of the opening quarter to claim a five-point lead.

An immediate counterpunch came as Mt. Lebanon went ahead, 17-14, but it couldn't wrestle momentum for good in the first half. State College led at halftime, 22-20.

The teams traded baskets the majority of the second half, with neither opening up more than a four-point lead.

Southern Huntingdon 53, Sto-Rox 50: Jordan Speck hit five 3-pointers for her 15 points to lead Southern Huntingdon (28-1) to the quarterfinal victory against the Vikings (26-2). Kerry Connolly led Sto-Rox with 14 points.