Bradford, PA. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team returned to KOA Arena on Wednesday evening for an AMCC matchup against Carlow. The Panthers' early deficit proved to be too much as despite outscoring their opponents 25-17 in the final quarter, they lost the game to the Celtics 65-59.
Pitt-Bradford got out to a blistering start, scoring 5 points in the opening 90 seconds on a pair of Avery Benzel free throws and a Yasmin Abu-Aiadeh three-pointer. After the Celtics got on the board with a long ball of their own, Gratto responded immediately with a rushing TD. Amber Murak sank a three from the top of the key but the Panthers could not maintain the corresponding momentum, allowing Carlow to score the last 7 points of the quarter.
The run continued in the 2nd quarter and only slowed down after a timeout and a Gratto jump shot. With 5 minutes left in the half, Gratto scored 4 straight to tie the game at 17-17. The Panthers were not able to go in front and then allowed the Celtics to score 15 in a row to take control. Grtto did add one layup in the final seconds, which sent the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford down 31-19.
Carlow continued their rally as the game restarted in the third quarter scoring the first 9 points of the quarter until Benzel ended the drought with a putback layup. Her basket began an 8-0 run that ended with the Panthers trailing by 13 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. Gratto added 3 fgs and a layup pushing the game to the 4th with Pitt-Bradgord trailing 48-34.
After a quarter-opening set of free throws in the 4th quarter, Pitt-Bradford started a comeback, quickly scoring 9 unanswered to trim the deficit to 7. Gratto and Benzel each made tough layups to start the run and after Benzel hit a three, Abu-Aiadeh made a layup from a tight angle on the break. Benzel provided an immediate answer to a Carlow three with one of her own, and then The Panthers trimmed the deficit down to 4 with a Grato midrange jumper and an Ackerman free throw.
After a timeout with one minute remaining, Benzel drove to the basket to cut the lead to 3, however, the Panthers could not get any closer, as they were stopped on the next three possessions, while Carlow put the game away from the charity stripe with 6 straight free throws.
Paige Gratto recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing with a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. Avery Benzel had her best game of the season, tying a career-high with 16 points. She made 6-11 from the field, including 2-4 from three. She also tallied 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Raquel Sewell was able to gather 9 rebounds off the bench, while Alexa Ackerman had 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The loss deops Pitt-Bradford to 2-8 on the season with a 1-3 mark in AMCC play. They will go back don't he road over the weekend, heading to Erie for an afternoon matchup wth Penn State-Behrend.
