SPRINGFIELD, Ohio— The Allegheny College women's basketball team fell on the road to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) foe Wittenberg University 72-52 Friday evening (Feb. 3).
The Tigers jumped out to an 11-0 lead before
Delaney Arbore got the Gators on the board with a three pointer assisted by
Olivia Barkley. Shortly after, the Tigers' lead increased to 17-3, bringing about a timeout from the Gators with just over five minutes to go in the quarter. The timeout failed to halt Wittenberg's momentum as they Tigers lead grew to 21-7 minutes later. Heading into the second quarter, the Gators trailed 24-9.
The Wittenberg advantage grew to 28-11 before the Gators mounted a comeback. A 6-0 run featuring
Jazmen Moore and
Madison Caufield brought the lead down to 11. However, the Tigers were quick to respond to the Gator pressure, pushing the lead back to 15, 34-19 midway through the quarter. Late in the opening half, the Gator shooters heated up again, outscoring Wittenberg 7-2 down the stretch to bring the lead to 36-26 Wittenberg at halftime.
Arbore led the Gators with seven points in the first half while Moore and
Kiersten Librizzi had four apiece. Barkley grabbed four rebounds while Moore and Caufield had three.
The Gators shot 37% (10-of-37) in the first half. Defensively, the Gators tallied nine steals.
The beginning of the third quarter belonged to the Tigers as they increased their lead to 17, 47-30, midway through. In the latter part of the thirdf, the Tigers' offense continued to fire on all cylinders as they led by as much as 22 to take a 54-33 lead into the fourth.
After trading baskets early in the fourth, the Gators strung together an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 17, 60-43, forcing a Tiger timeout. The Gators continued to push late in the game and finished the quarter outscoring the Tigers 19-18 but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.
Arbore finished the game with team-highs at 16 points and six rebounds. She also assisted, had a pair of steals and a block.
Kaylah Pinkney scores seven points off the bench to go with four rebounds and a pair of blocks. Moore ended the game with four points, five steals, three assists and a pair of rebounds.
Emily Smith tallied five points.
Meaghan Wilby and Barkley collected five rebounds while Caufield had four.
Overall, the Gators shot 31.7% (19-of-60) from the field. Defensively, they forced 18 turnovers with 12 steals. They also won the battle on the glass, 38-35. Both the Gator and Tiger bench contributed 29 points.
The Tigers were led by Alex Keiss, who scored 14. Michelle Brunswick had a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Gators are back on the court Saturday (Feb. 4) in NCAC action at DePauw University.
