STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Junior
Sarah Santicola (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) of the Allegheny women's basketball team broke the program career blocks record Saturday (Feb. 8) as the Gators defeated Franciscan on the road 85-61 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play.
Santicola entered the game tied with Kaitlyn Fromknecht at 189 career blocks. The record setting block came in the second quarter. She finished the game with a pair of blocks.
The first quarter went back-and-forth throughout the frame. Leading 12-11 with two minutes remaining, the Gators ended the frame on a 6-2 run to take an 18-13 lead into the second.
The Gators got out to a fast start in the second quarter as they opened on a 15-3 run over a six minute span. In that span, Santicola set the block record. Allegheny continued to play well in the final minutes as they took a 41-22 into the halftime break.
Emily Lauer (Knox, Pa./Keystone) led the Gators with 13 points in the first half. Santicola added nine while
Bella Antonacci (Indiana, Pa./Indiana Area) had eight and
Sofia Genareo (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern Central) added seven. The Gators shot 51.6% (16-31) from the field and owned a 30-21 edge in rebounds.
Coming out of the half, the Gators went on a 6-0 run. The lead reached 51-23 before the Barons put together a 9-0 run. Allegheny would recover and ended the third with a 12-4 run to lead 62-34 going into the final frame.
The Barons outpaced the Gators 27-23 in a high-scoring fourth but it was not enough to overcome the Allegheny advantage.
Inside the Box
- Antonacci led the Gators with a 21 point, 10 rebound double-double. She also had five assists.
- Lauer also had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
- Genareo had 13 points and eight rebounds.
- In addition to breaking the block record, Santicola had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
- Pascale Olczak (Plum, Pa./Plum) produced a season-high 10 points.
- Kate Leach (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) had two points and four rebounds.
- Jess Bickart (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) had eight rebounds while Jasmyn Fisher (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) had four.
- Allegheny shot 50.8% from the field (33-65) and had a 57-36 advantage in rebounds.
News and Notes
- The Gators moved to 14-7 overall and 13-3 in PAC action.
- Allegheny leads the all-time series between the teams 7-0.
- Santicola broke the program career blocks record.
Up Next
The Gators travel to PAC leading Washington and Jefferson Wednesday night (Feb. 12).