MEADVILLE, Pa. – As expected, the David V. Wise Center provided an electric atmosphere for its first taste of the postseason in three years. And as planned, the Allegheny College women's basketball team made sure to send its supporters home with smiles on their faces.
Fourth-seeded Allegheny (14-12, 8-8 NCAC) used its suffocating full-court press to force 22 turnovers and senior guard
Jessica Mrdjenovich scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the second half as the Gators advanced to the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament semifinals with a 58-50 victory over fifth-seeded Oberlin College this evening.
After being swept by Oberlin (12-14, 6-10 NCAC) a season ago, the Gators returned the favor by earning their third-straight win over the Yeowomen, marking the first time since 2013 that they have beaten the same team three times in a campaign.
Mrdjenovich's 18-point effort ties a season-high (Dec. 29, 2015 vs. #11 Calvin) and gives her three consecutive double-digit scoring performances. Fellow senior
Emma Pellicano flirted with a double-double as she scored eight points and pulled down nine rebounds, while fourth-year guard
Rachel Vigliotti quarterbacked the Allegheny offense with six assists.
The Gators held advantages in points off turnovers (23-9), bench points (23-15), and points in the paint (24-18).
Oberlin took a 14-13 lead into the second quarter after the opening frame featured three lead changes and three other deadlocks. That advantage would be short-lived when Mrdjenovich and senior forward
Kaitlyn Fromknecht buried jumpers to make it 17-14 Allegheny, but the Yeowomen answered with a pair of layups to regain an edge.
The 18-17 score would hold for over two minutes before freshman forward
Olivia Barkley halted the scoring drought with a jumper from the right elbow. That seemed to spark the Gators as Pellicano tallied a steal and score on the next possession and made a layup following an offensive rebound from junior forward
Morgan Dillon to make it 23-18 in favor of the hosts. The run would continue with another Pellicano basket and a layup from Mrdjenovich, but Oberlin was able to stop the bleeding with a jumper from Tyler Parlor just before the buzzer.
The Yeowomen took the momentum from that bucket into the beginning of the second half as they rattled off five consecutive points to cut the deficit to 27-25. Freshman guard
Candaisy Crawford and Oberlin's Olivia Canning traded layups to keep it a two-point game, but fellow first-year
Emily Smith responded with a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 32-27.
Canning followed Smith's trifecta with a layup, but Allegheny's fast-paced mentality earned it an immediate answer when Vigliotti found Fromknecht running the floor. The lead reached 11 when Smith buried another trifecta and Fromknecht and freshman guard
Delaney Arbore respectively tallied a jumper and free throw.
The Yeowomen used a 7-4 difference to close the third quarter and the first two baskets of the final frame to move within four of the Gators at 44-40. Mrdjenovich briefly stopped the run with a successful cast from international waters, but it was met with a trifecta from Lindsey Bernhardt. Following another scoring drought of two-plus minutes, Dillon hit from mid-range and Mrdjenovich knifed in for a layup to double Allegheny's advantage.
Bernhardt had another swing for the Gators as her third three-pointer of the game made it 51-46 with 2:33 remaining. After neither team could do anything on their next possessions, buckets in the paint from Mrdjenovich and Arbore pushed the gap to nine points. Oberlin couldn't make it anything more than a two-possession game down the stretch as three freebies from the charity stripe in the final 28 seconds set the final.
Arbore and Smith led the bench brigade with seven and six points, respectively. Mrdjenovich added four assists to go along with her scoring accolades.
Although Bernhardt paced the Yeowomen with 13 points, the Allegheny defense held her to 3-of-17 shooting from the field.
Allegheny will continue its pursuit of the program's first NCAC title in 27 years on Friday, Feb. 26 at 8:00 p.m. against top-seeded Denison University.
