Hamburg, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team was able to cut an 18-point halftime deficit to just four points, but were unable to complete the comeback as they fell to the Hilbert Hawks 62-51.
- The Panthers got off to a slow start offensively, as the hosts were able to jump out to an early four-point lead. Cailey Barnett got the Panther offense on the board with a mid-range jump shot with 5:48 to go in the first quarter. The basket broke the ice for the Panthers but did not kick start the offense, as the Hawks were able to extend their lead to seven a minute later.
- Following a Pit-Bradford timeout, Cassidy King was able to make a short jumper to add to the Panther tally. Ashley Hall hit a three from the wing with a minute to go to put the Panthers down 5 points, but the Hawks made a final basket with three seconds to go to send the game to the 2nd with a 7 point advantage.
- The Panther offense continued to struggle in the second quarter, as they were held to just one field goal, a second three from Hall, in the first 8:27 of the quarter. The Panthers were able to keep the Hawks within shouting distance, as the hosts struggled to score as well and the Panthers added 3 from the free-throw line. King made a layup in transition to put the Panthers down 10 with 1:33 to go in the half, but the Hawks scored 5 in the final minute to send the game to the break with the Hilbert leading 32-18.
- In the third, the Hawks slowly added to the lead, as they pushed it to as many as 18 points with four minutes to go in the quarter. The Panthers stepped up their defensive pressure over the final four minutes of the quarter, keeping the Hawks off the scoreboard. This allowed Pitt-Bradford to whittle the advantage back to 10 points. King scored the first three points of the rally, while Avery Benzel added a free throw and Hannah Lary made a pair of layups. The second one came on a buzzer-beater after a Benzel steal.
- Pitt-Bradford continued the rally in the final period, as early baskets from King and Barnett got the deficit to 6 points. Following a Hilbert free throw, Avery Benzel hit a three-pointer on a pass from Barnett to put the Panthers down just four points. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Hilbert responded with three-point plays on back-to-back possessions to restore the double-digit lead.
- The Panthers were able to get the Hilbert advantage back into single digits numerous times over the final four minutes but were not able to get back within five points as the hosts made 6 free throws down the stretch.
Cassidy King recorded her second double-double of the season, as she scored 14 points on 6 of 8 from the field and collected 11 rebounds. Ashley Hall finished with her first career double-double. She led the team with 16 points as she shot 50% from the field and from three. She grabbed 10 rebounds on the defensive end. Cailey Barnett had 9 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
The Panthers fall to 2-11 on the season and 0-5 in AMCC play. They will return to KOA Arena on Monday, January, 17th as they will host Mount Aloysius in a makeup game that was postponed in the first week of the new year. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m.