Despite taking a comfortable halftime lead, the Union High girls basketball team had to work for a win.

The Lady Scots took an 11-point advantage at the half but were challenged by Cornell in the fourth quarter before sealing a 62-58 WPIAL nonsection victory last night.

Cornell trailed 31-20 at the half and entered the third quarter down 46-31. The Lady Raiders, however, outscored Union in the final period, 27-16.

“We started to get a little careless with the ball and we weren’t finishing with our shots or layups,” Lady Scots coach Damian Cassano said. “We still have to do the little things better, but we also have to put it behind us and get ready for section play.”

Savannah Partridge scored a team-high 27 points and added four steals for Union (6-9). Noelle Hannon added a double-double, scoring 14 points to go with her 20 rebounds.

“That’s been her best game of the year,” Cassano said. “We’ve known she’s been capable of playing like that. She put it all together tonight.”

Nikki Goode led all scorers with 29 points for Cornell (5-11).

“Besides the fourth quarter, tonight was our best team effort,” Cassano said. “We’re looking to get into the playoffs and this was a good win against a good team that was in our section last year.”