GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Allegheny women's basketball team trailed Grove City heading into the fourth quarter, but the Gators completed their comeback to earn a 65-60 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) road victory Monday (Jan. 6).
 
The Gators jumped out to an early 8-3 lead after a pair of threes by Sofia Genareo (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern Central). However, the Wolverines scored nine straight points as they moved ahead, 12-8. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way as a late layup by Grove City gave them an 18-12 lead after the first.
 
Allegheny opened the second quarter on a 5-2 run, capped off by a traditional three point play by Sarah Santicola (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area), to cut the deficit to 20-17. Once again, Grove City would answer with a run of their own, this time 10-2 to take an eleven point lead. Santicola converted another traditional three point play to end the opening half as the Gators trailed 30-22.
 
Santicola led the Gators with eight points and five rebounds in the opening half. Genareo had six points while Bella Antonacci (Indiana, Pa./Indiana Area) pulled down five rebounds.
 
Similar to the second, Allegheny started the third quarter on a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 32-27. Minutes later, Genareo hit her third three of the contest to cut the lead to 35-32. In the final minutes of the frame, the Gators kept pace with the Wolverines as a late steal and layup by Emily Lauer (Knox, Pa./Keystone) brought the lead down to 46-44 heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
A Lauer layup directly off an inbound pass by Jess Bickart (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) tied the game at 46 early in the fourth quarter. After answering a Grove City basket, a free throw by Lauer gave Allegheny their first lead since the opening quarter.
 
Allegheny did not look back after taking the lead as they retained it the rest of the way to collect the PAC win.
 
Inside the Box

• Santicola led Allegheny with a career-high 28 points. She also had 12 rebounds for the double-double, four blocks, four assists and three steals.
• Lauer finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.
• Genareo had nine points to go alongside five rebounds.
• Bickart ended the game with six points and five assists.
• Jasmyn Fisher (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) had four points while Antonacci had three.
• Allegheny shot 46.3% (25-of-54) from the floor 

News and Notes

• The Gators moved to 7-5, 6-1 PAC on the season.
• Allegheny is now 30-17 all-time against Grove City.

Up Next
The Gators are back on the road Wednesday (Jan. 8) at Westminster.