OBERLIN, Ohio – A game that featured nine lead changes and six other deadlocks went the Allegheny College women's basketball team's way as the Gators knocked off Oberlin College, 62-58, this afternoon in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) action.
Allegheny's (10-8, 5-4 NCAC) pace made a big difference as it scored 10 points on the fastbreak and held Oberlin (10-8, 4-5 NCAC) scoreless in transition. The Gators used a balanced effort offensively to claim the victory with seven players between six and nine points.
Pacing Allegheny in the scorebook was the senior trio of
Jessica Mrdjenovich,
Emma Pellicano, and
Rachel Vigliotti, who each tallied nine points. Mrdjenovich now has 54 points in her last three meetings against the Yeowomen and has shot 50 percent (23-46) from the field in those contests.
Freshman guard
Emily Smith scored eight points off the bench and has surpassed her previous season total of 14 points with 17 over the last two games.
Despite only shooting 35.2 percent (25-71) from the field, the Gators were safe with the basketball, only committing nine turnovers to Oberlin's 24. Allegheny capitalized on that edge, scoring 24 points off Yeowomen miscues.
Oberlin jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Gators received a response from Pellicano and Smith. Allegheny gained its first lead at 8-7 when Vigliotti canned a three-pointer, but the Yeowomen answered with a jumper on the other end. The hosts kept the one-point edge throughout the quarter with four foul shots offsetting baskets from Kailtyn Fromknecht and
Ifeyinwa Uwazie.
Fromknecht made a layup to begin the second quarter and gave the Gators a 15-14 advantage, but two baskets in the paint for Oberlin put the hosts back on top. Freshman guard
Candaisy Crawford buried a shot from international waters to tie it at 17, and Smith sank a trifecta after a pair of Yeowomen free-throws to put Allegheny back in front.
Mrdjenovich followed Smith's bucket up with a jumper, but an Oberlin three-pointer knotted it up once more. The two teams traded a pair of baskets before freshman forward
Kay Pinkney scored in the paint to give the Gators a 26-24 lead into halftime.
The Yeowomen came out of the locker room rejuvenated as they opened the second half on a 14-3 run to go up 38-29 with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter. After a three-pointer from freshman guard
Delaney Arbore was answered by a foul shot and layup from Oberlin, Arbore canned another trifecta and Pellicano scored on the fastbreak to cut the deficit to 41-37. The hosts responded with another layup, but Mrdjenovich scored five consecutive points to pull Allegheny within one. Crawford then gave the visitors the lead with a steal and a basket in transition, and Uwazie scored after a pair of free-throws to make it 46-45 Gators through 30 minutes.
Allegheny pushed its lead to five thanks to Pellicano and Smith, while freshman forward
Olivia Barkley scored her only points of the game following a Yeowomen bucket to retain the five-point edge. Oberlin then tallied four straight points to make it 52-51 in favor of the visitors, but a Fromknecht jumper halted the mini-run. The Gators kept their one-possession lead for the next 3:40 before Vigliotti made a tough layup in the paint following a Pellicano offensive board. After Oberlin cut the difference to two with five seconds left, Vigliotti stepped to the chalk and calmly sank two foul shots to preserve the victory.
The last three meetings between Allegheny and the Yeowomen have been decided by a combined nine points.
Allegheny, winners of two straight, will look to remain in the top four of the NCAC standings next Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1:00 p.m. when it hosts Kenyon College. The contest against the Ladies is the team's annual Play4Kay game with the proceeds going to the Kay Yow Fund, which raises money towards cancer research.
