MEADVILLE, Pa.— The Allegheny College women's basketball was unable to overcome a big second quarter by Denison University as they fell to the Big Red 59-43 in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) action Saturday (Feb. 11) in Meadville.
The Big Red jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first but a
Kiersten Librizzi three tied it up. A minute later,
Emily Smith put the Gators ahead, 5-3, with a short jumper. After The Big Red tied it,
Delaney Arbore hit a three from the corner to put the Gators back in front, 8-5. The Big Red closed the gap with a 3-1 run late in the quarter but the Gators led 9-8 heading into the second.
Denison scored the first basket of the second to take the lead but
Jazmen Moore quickly answered with a layup to put the Gators back in front. After exchanging baskets once again, the Big Red went on a 13-0 run to force a Gator timeout with 3:31 left in the opening half. The timeout failed to stall the Denison momentum as they took a 31-18 lead into the half.
Arbore led the Gators with seven points and a pair of steals in the opening half.
Olivia Barkley and Arbore shared a team-high with three rebounds.
The Gators made up some ground in the third, outscoring the Big Red 7-5 early on to cut the lead to 36-25. The score stayed that way until there until the Big Red hit a pair of free throws with two-and-a-half minutes to play in quarter. The free throws led to a 5-0 run, cut short by a
Kaylah Pinkney three with less than a minute to go in the third. In the closing seconds, Pinkney hit another three to cut the lead to 41-31 heading into the fourth.
The first five minutes of the fourth quarter belonged to Denison as they opened on an 8-0 run. The Gators picked up some steam in the final five minutes, outscoring the Big Red 12-10 but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.
Madison Caufield and Pinkney led the Gators with eight points apiece while Arbore finished with seven. Barkley, Librizzi and Smith had three points while
Zoe Soilis,
Amanda Beebe,
Brianna Campbell, and
Maia Joiner had two apiece. Soilis also had three assists.
Barkley led the Gators with seven rebounds. Soilis and Caufield collected four each. Arbore had a pair of steals. The defense forced 15 turnovers which led to 13 points.
The Big Red was led by Jordan Holmes, who tallied 28 points, 25 rebounds and seven blocks.
The Gators are on the road Wednesday (Feb. 15) at Oberlin College.
