MEADVILLE, Pa. – Senior forward
Kaitlyn Fromknecht toppled both the single-season and career program records for blocks this evening as the Allegheny College women's basketball team rebounded from a three-game skid with a 88-72 victory over the College of Wooster in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) action.
Fromknecht entered the night needing one rejection to claim the career standard and three for the single-season mark. She accomplished both with relative ease, breaking both records in the first quarter en route to an eight-block night. Additionally, her performance allowed her to claim the program's top three spots for blocks in a single game as he already collected nine against Westminster on Nov. 20, 2015 and 13 versus Hiram on Dec. 2, 2015.
Allegheny (9-8, 4-4 NCAC) had four players in double-figures, led by freshman guard
Delaney Arbore, who scored a career-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior guard
Rachel Vigliotti added 11 points with seven assists, while Arbore's classmate
Candaisy Crawford also scored 11. Fourth-year forward
Emma Pellicano was the final Gator with double-digit points as she tallied 10.
The hosts shot 42.6 percent (29-68) from the field and 43.5 percent (10-23) from international waters. One of the big differences in the game came at the chalk as Allegheny made 20-of-24 attempts (83.3 percent), while Wooster (5-12, 1-7 NCAC) made just 57.1 percent (16-28) of its foul shots.
The Gators held significant edges in points off turnovers (33-17) and bench points (41-18). Freshman guard
Emily Smith led the Allegheny reserves with nine points in 10 minutes of action, nearly tripling her previous season total.
Fromknecht didn't take long to break the career record as she swatted away a layup attempt from Kyle Croxton just 34 seconds after entering the game. The single-season standard came at the end of the frame as she reentered the contest with 2.8 seconds remaining and promptly got her hand on a jumper from Natalie Coschigano. The Erie, Pa. native's totals now read 71 for the season and 163 for her career – numbers she can certainly beef up with eight games left on the regular-season schedule.
Smith's first of two trifectas began a 15-0 run in the first quarter that turned an 8-6 deficit to a 21-8 lead. A five-point stretch from the Fighting Scots' Lauren Hancher – who paced all scorers with 26 points – made it an eight-point difference, but her run was cut down by Arbore as a three-pointer from her allowed the Gators to regain a double-digit advantage. However, Wooster was able to battle back from that by scoring the last six points of the quarter to make it 24-19 Allegheny after 10 minutes of play.
A trifecta from Croxton cut it to a one-possession game to start the second quarter, but the Gators responded with 18 consecutive points thanks to contributions from Smith, Vigliotti, Pellicano, Crawford, and Arbore. The lead grew as large as 20 points before the Fighting Scots seven of the final nine points of the half to make it 44-28 in favor of the hosts.
The advantage again reached 20 with 4:46 left in the third quarter after freshman guard
Olivia Barkley buried a shot from international waters. It reached its peak 33 seconds later following a pair of Hancher free-throws when Arbore sank a three-pointer to make it 58-37, but again Wooster closed the stanza on a run, scoring 14 of the last 19 points to cut the deficit to 12.
The difference would hover between 12 and 16 points for the majority of the fourth quarter. The Fighting Scots made it an 11-point game with 3:50 left after a Croxton three-pointer, but it was met with an immediate answer from Pellicano in the paint. After Croxton sank another trifecta to make it 80-69 a minute later, senior guard
Jessica Mrdjenovich made sure the Allegheny lead wouldn't dip under double-digits as she buried a jump shot in the paint.
Fromknecht almost achieved a rare rebound-block double-double as she pulled down nine caroms to lead all players.
Allegheny will look to keep this momentum when it travels to Oberlin College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23.
