Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team secured their first postseason appearance since 2018-19 on Saturday as they defeated Pitt-Greensburg 86-77 in their season finale.
Prior to the start of the action, the Panthers took a few moments to recognize McKenna Kelly for Senior Day. Kelly will be graduating this Spring after two years with the Panthers. She has played in 48 games for the Panthers and totaled 349 points, 242 rebounds, and 49 assists.
The Panthers got off to a strong start as Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh drained a three on the game's opening possession. The visiting Bobcats scored their next two trips down the floor, but Alexa Ackerman was able to make a short jumper to keep the Panthers in front. Her basket was followed by 5 straight from Pitt-Greensburg until Abu-Aiadeh made another long ball and McKenna Kelly drove to the basket for a layup. The visitors responded once more with a run that allowed them to open up a 16-10 lead, however, the Panthers quickly whittled it back to one point on jumpers from Raquel Sewell and Kelly, and an Amber Cross free throw. The Bobcats pushed their lead back to 7-points before Kelly ended the quarter with a three-pointer to send the game to the second with Pitt-Bradford trailing 23-19.
The Bobcats resumed the scoring with a layup on the first possession of the 2nd quarter, but the Panthers were able to lock down defensively after the basket, keeping the visitors off the scoreboard for the next 5 minutes. While they shut down the Bobcats on the defensive end, the Panthers erupted for 13 straight points to open up a 9-point advantage. Avery Benzel started the rally with a short jump shot before Ackerman and Katie Woolson each converted layups on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 25. Ackerman made a three a few possessions later to give the Panthers the lead and after stealing the ball, found Benzel on the break for another layup. Sewell added two baskets out of the post to close the rally, forcing a Pitt-Greensburg timeout. The Bobcats scored 6 straight out of the timeout, but after Sewell ended the rally with two from the line, Ackerman added another three and Kelly made a layup to extend the Panther lead to 10-points. Ackerman added two more long balls late to keep the lead in double digits at the half.
After the break, Pitt-Bradford got restarted quickly, converting a Kelly blocked shot into an Abu-Aiadeh three, and then a steal from Abu-Aiadeh on the next possession led to a Kelly layup on the break. The Panthers kept their lead at ten as they made 4 straight from the charity stripe before forcing another 5-minute Pitt-Greensburg drought that would allow them to double their lead. In the Pitt-Bradford run, Kelly and Ackerman each added three free throws, while Kelly and Abu-Aiadeh added a midrange jumper each. The Bobcats broke the drought with a three-point play in the final minute, but a late Benzel jump shot sent the game to the fourth quarter with the Panthers ahead by 19.
Pitt-Bradford struggled to begin the final period of the game, as they turned the ball over twice to start the quarter. Ackerman was able to make another three-pointer after the tough start, however, her effort was followed by a 7-1 Pitt-Greensburg run, cutting the Panther lead down to 14 points. The Panthers stopped the run as Woolson found Jordan Langston for a layup and Ackerman made yet another three after a Bobcat turnover. After Ackerman answered a Pitt-Greensburg three with a floating jumper, Pitt-Bradford struggled to score from the field as they were limited to 6 free throws and a Cross layup for the last 5-minutes of the game. The visitors eventually whittled the lead down to 8, but Abu-Aiadeh made a clutch pair of free throws to help put the game away.
The Panthers were led by Alexa Ackerman, who scored 27 points on 9-20 shooting, including 6-14 from three. She also tallied 6 steals in the game. Playing on her senior day, McKenna Kelly had the best game of her career. She scored 17 points, making 6-10 from the field, and grabbed 12 rebounds, including 7 on the offensive end. She also had 3 assists and blocked a pair of three-point shots. Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh also reached double figures, scoring 15 points. She added 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals.
The win put the Panthers record at 9-15 for the season, with a 6-12 mark in AMCC play. It clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 5 years for the Panthers. Pitt-Bradford holds the 6th seed in the AMCC Tournament and will be on the road for their first-round game. They will head south to Penn State-Altoona for a game on Tuesday, February 21st at 7:00 p.m. The Panthers split the regular-season matchups with Penn State-Altoona. They defeated the Lions 67-63 in their first matchup away from home on January, 17th, and then fell 72-59 earlier this week.
