MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny women's basketball team continued nonconference play Saturday (Nov. 20), defeating Franciscan 80-57.

Sydney Cook (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) and Emily Lauer (Knox, Pa./Keystone) led the Gators with 14 points apiece. Lauer also tallied six rebounds with five steals and three assists.  Cook added four steals and two rebounds to her offensive outing. Cook and Lauer were two of five Gators with double-digit scoring efforts. Alexis Caldwell (Whitefish Bay, Wisc./Whitefish Bay) had a full stat line, scoring 11 points with team-high totals of seven rebounds, seven steals and five assists. Sydney Watko (Pomeroy, Wash./Pomeroy) also had 11 points with three assists and two steals. Jenna Manke (Freeport, Pa./Freeport) was the fifth Gator in double-digits with 10 points with three rebounds.  

The Gators defense shined throughout the game, forcing 30 Franciscan turnovers which led to 24 steals and 39 points off of those turnovers.

Franciscan owned an 18-16 lead after the first quarter, but an 8-0 run to start the second quarter gave the Gators a 24-18 lead.  The Barons regained the lead, but Cook scored seven points in the final 90 seconds of the half, including a buzzer-beater, to put the Gators back in front 38-35 at the half.

The Gator defense stepped up in the second half, limiting the Barons to just 11 points each quarter as the Gators secured the win.  

Allegheny is back on the road Tuesday (Nov. 23) when they travel to face Washington & Jefferson at 5 pm.