GRANVILLE, Ohio—The Allegheny College women's basketball team kept up with Denison University but was unable to overcome a third quarter run as they fell on the road 63-52 Saturday (Jan. 7) in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) play.
The Big Red scored the first four points of the first but the Gators quickly tied the game up at six with baskets by
Zoe Soilis,
Amanda Beebe and
Delaney Arbore. The teams went back-and-forth for the next several minutes. With two minutes to go in the quarter,
Olivia Barkley gave the Gators their first lead, 11-10. The Big Red was quick to respond with a basket but a Barkley three regained the lead for the Gators, 14-12, heading into the second.
The start of the second quarter belonged to Denison as they scored the first 11 points to take a 23-14 lead. The second part of the quarter was a reversal of the first five minutes as it belonged to Allegheny. The Gators got back in it on an 11-1 run, capped off by an
Emily Smith three in the final seconds, to give the Gators a 25-24 lead at the half.
Barkley led the Gators with seven points in the opening 20 minutes while Smith had six on a pair of threes. Arbore netted five while Beebe had four.
Kaylah Pinkney led the Gators with five rebounds. Nearly half the Gators points came in the paint.
The Big Red scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take the lead, 31-25. They continued to push their momentum in the quarter while limiting the Gator chances. After leading by as much as 13, Denison took a 44-33 lead into the fourth.
The Gators started the fourth quarter hot, going on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to three, 44-41. However, that would be the closest the Gators would come to the Big Red as they could not overcome the Big Red in the fourth quarter.
Arbore led the Gators with 13 points to go with a pair of steals and assists. Barkley finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Smith also finished the game in double digit scoring, going for 10 points.
The Gators shot 30.3% (20-of-66) from the floor, including 41.2% (seven-of-17) from beyond the arc.
Pinkney led the Gators on the board with eight.
Madison Caufield collected five. The Gator defense tallied 14 steals, led by
Angela Martelli's four. Martelli also had a pair of blocks.
Overall, the Gators turned the ball over 14 times compared to 22 by the Big Red. Both teams netted 22 points in the paint and blocked five shots.
The Gators return to Meadville Wednesday (Jan. 11), playing host to the College of Wooster at 4 p.m.
