Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team returned to AMCC play in their first game of the new year on Wednesday night. They took on Penn State-Behrend and despite holding a 5-point advantage after 18 minutes of play, ultimately lost to the Lions 89-63.
The Panthers got off to a slow start as the visiting Lions were able to score the first six points of the game. Paige Gratto was able to get the Panthers off the mark after three minutes of action, making a layup off a feed from Alexa Ackerman. The Lions answered, but Pitt-Bradford followed with a quick 7-0 run to take the lead. Gratto started the run with a pair of free throws and then after making a layup, Abby Goss found Ackerman for a three to put the Panthers up 9-8. Gratto added a three a minute later and Goss gave Pitt-Bradford a four-point lead with a driving layup. After the Lions tied the game at 14, Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh made a free throw in the final seconds to finish the first with the Panthers ahead 15-14.
Penn State-Behrend opened the scoring in the second and then the Panthers quickly answered as Ackerman made another long ball and then found Goss for a layup to restore the four-point advantage. Pitt-Bradford maintained the lead for two minutes and then Gratto made three-pointers on consecutive possessions, pushing the Panther lead to its largest at 6 points. McKenna Kelly kept the Panthers in the lead with a layup and a pair of free throws, but the Lions closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 36-32 lead into the break.
The visitor's momentum continued to grow after halftime, as the Panthers struggled to break the Lion's press, resulting in a 9-0 run to start the third. Goss made a putback layup to end the rally and Gratto followed with two free throws. Unfortunately, this was followed by another long drought for the Panthers, which allowed the Lions to push their lead to 24 with 4 minutes remaining in the quarter. Gratto scored 7 more points in the quarter, as they finished the period trailing by 20 points.
Pitt-Bradford started the 4th quarter with another scoreless run as the visitors scored the first 8 points of the period. Goss stopped the rally again, driving to the basket for a layup with 6:33 remaining. Amber Cross was able to score 6 points over the final six minutes of play, while Raquel Sewell made a pair of unanswered jump shots to end the game.
Paige Gratto led the Panthers with 24 points in the game. She made 6-15 from the field, including 3-5 from beyond the arc. She also made all 9 of her free throw attempts. Abigail Goss recorded her first double-double of the season, as she scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. She also tallied 4 assists and 3 steals.
The loss drops Pitt-Bradford to 4-7 on the season with a 1-4 record in AMCC play. They will be on the road over the weekend as they look to end a 6-game losing streak at Carlow. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
