HIRAM, Ohio – The Gator women's basketball fell 76-55 in a road contest at North Coast Athletic Conference foe Hiram.
The Gators (3-15, 1-9 NCAC) struggled offensively, shooting just 33 percent from the field and committing 25 turnovers, while Hiram (15-5, 7-4 NCAC) used a lengthy second quarter run to break open a tight ballgame and cruise to the win.
Olivia Barkley led Allegheny with 13 points, while rookie
Kiersten Librizzi (pictured above) came off the bench to score nine.
Madison Caufield and
Maria DiDonato shared the team lead with five rebounds apiece, but Hiram ended with a commanding 51-40 edge on the glass.
The Terriers threatened to pull away early, opening up a 12-4 lead midway through the first quarter. The Gators responded, as Barkley, Caufield, and
Delaney Arbore each scored in the paint over the next two minutes to trim the gap to three, 14-11. Hiram would score the final two baskets of the quarter to take an 18-11 advantage after the opening 10 minutes.
Hiram scored the first bucket of the second frame to go up 20-11, but led by Barkley, the Gators came right back. The sophomore scored eight straight points in a three-minute span to cut the Terrier lead to 20-19, before Caufield capped off a 12-3 Gator run with a three-pointer to forge a 23-23 tie with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
The tide would quickly turn, however, as Hiram caught fire in the final stages of the quarter. On the strength of four three-pointers in a three-minute span, the Terriers ended the frame on a 16-1 run to open up a 39-24 halftime lead. During the decisive Hiram surge, the Gators were ice cold, as they misfired on each of their final five field goal attempts of the half, and went an uncharacteristic 1-for-5 free throw tries over the span.
During the first half, Hiram connected on 12 field goals to the Gators' 10, but the difference came from behind the arc, as the Terriers went 4-for-10 from deep, and the Gators just 1-for-8. Hiram also had a decided edge at the foul line over the first 20 minutes, going 9-for-10 to Allegheny's 3-for-9.
The Gators looked to chip away at the deficit at the start of the third quarter. Two minutes into the frame,
Zoe Soilis connected on a trey, before Barkley and
Meaghan Wilby each sank inside buckets to trim the gap to 14, 45-31. The deficit remained 14 after a three-pointer from
Kaylah Pinkney with just over three minutes left in the quarter, but the Terriers closed the frame on a 10-4 run to enter the final stanza with a 58-38 lead.
The 20-point deficit was too much to overcome for the Gators, though they did out-score the Terriers 19-17 over the final quarter. Liebrizzi scored all nine of her points in a six-minute span in the fourth, as she went 4-for-6 from the field.
Hiram was led by a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double from Merdedes Jones, while Allison Vannoy added 18 points.
Allegheny will return to action on Monday, Jan. 30, as the Gators will look to snap their three-game losing skid in their final non-conference tilt of the season, a 7:30 p.m. date at Fredonia.
