WOOSTER, Ohio – A 17-point edge in the third quarter was the difference for the Allegheny College women's basketball team this evening as the Gators clinched the four seed in the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament with a 85-59 victory over the College of Wooster.
Allegheny (13-11, 8-7 NCAC) had four players in double-figures, including senior forward
Emma Pellicano, who celebrated her 22nd birthday with 12 points and five rebounds. Classmate
Jessica Mrdjenovich led the visitors with 15 on 6-of-11 shooting, while freshmen
Candaisy Crawford (14) and
Delaney Arbore (10) completed the scoring quartet.
The Gators were efficient from international waters this evening as they sank 11 of their 22 attempts from behind the arc. The aforementioned four combined to make eight trifectas, while senior
Rachel Vigliotti, sophomore
Madison Caufield, and freshman
Emily Smith also made contributions to the three-point club.
Allegheny was also maintained its positioning as the top free-throw shooting team in the NCAC (74.7 percent) with a 20-of-23 performance from the chalk. Crawford, Vigliotti, senior Kailtyn Fromknecht, and freshman
Kay Pinkney all were perfect at the stripe, while Pellicano enjoyed a 5-of-6 effort on freebies.
The Gators opened the game with the first 10 points courtesy of three-pointers from Vigliotti and Arbore and layups from Fromknecht and classmate
Ifeyinwa Uwazie. Arbore's layup with 2:11 remaining in the quarter made it 18-6 in favor of the visitors, but that 12-point difference was cut to four over the course of the first half.
After the two teams traded the first four baskets of the second half, Allegheny pushed its lead to seven with a Mrdjenovich trifecta. That basket sparked a 16-2 stretch in favor of the visitors with the senior guard canning another three-pointer at the end of it to make the score 55-37. Mrdjenovich then answered a pair of foul shots with a jumper and Crawford scored on consecutive possessions following two more free-throws to push the Gators' lead to 20.
Following a three-pointer by Smith to close the third quarter, Allegheny's advantage reached its peak at 27 with points from Fromknecht, Mrdjenovich, and Crawford. Wooster (6-18, 2-13 NCAC) then cut its deficit to 18 with a 9-0 run, but that stretch was answered with two free-throws from Vigliotti and Mrdjenovich's third successful cast from international waters. The difference again reached 27 with 51 seconds remaining thanks to a jumper from freshman
Maria DiDonato and it settled at 26 following a Fighting Scots basket with a foul shot from junior
Morgan Dillon.
Lauren Hancher paced the hosts with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Caufield contributed three steals defensively, while Fromknecht swatted three shots – her 19th game this season in which she has registered multiple blocks.
Allegheny will close the regular season this Saturday, Feb. 20 at 1:00 p.m. against league-leading Denison. Prior to the game, the Gators will recognize the careers of
Kaitlyn Fromknecht,
Jessica Mrdjenovich,
Emma Pellicano,
Ifeyinwa Uwazie, and
Rachel Vigliotti as part of Senior Day festivities.
