Hamburg, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team picked up an important road win on Wednesday night as they defeated Hilbert 69-56.
The Panthers scored first through a pair of Paige Gratto free throws, but quickly fell behind as the hosts scored the next 9 points. Raquel Sewell ended a 4-minute drought with a putback layup to spark a Pitt-Bradford rally. Following a Hilert layup, Avery Benzel drove to the basket for two and Gratto made a three to cut the deficit to two. Hilbert added a late free throw and ended the first quarter with a 12-9 lead.
Amber Murak started the second quarter with a tipped-in rebound, however, her effort was answered by two Hilbert three-pointers and a layup which extended the deficit to 9. The teams exchanged points and then shared a long scoreless run until Katie Woolson ended the half with a 5-2 run. She made a layup off of a pass from Gratto, and then after a Hilbert basket, completed an old-fashioned three-point play to end the half with the Panthers trailing 26-20.
The hosts started the 2nd half with 5 straight points, pushing their lead to its highest total at 11 points. Avery Benzel started the Pitt-Bradford comeback by converting a three-point play and then finding Gratto for a layup on the next possession. After a Hilbert free throw, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run, erasing the deficit and taking their first lead since the opening minutes. Gratto bookended the rally with a pair of threes, while Murak made a putback layup and Ackerman hit a midrange jump shot. The Hawks slowed the run with another free throw before Murak made two layups in 12 seconds to push the Panther lead to 6. Pitt-Bradford held the hosts without a field goal for over 8 minutes before the Hawks made a layup in the final seconds to send the game to the 4th with the Panthers leading 39-35.
Hilbert scored the first two baskets of the final period to tie the score at 39, but Pitt-Bradford was resilient, answering with 5 of their own from Benzel. The senior guard made a three-pointer and then two from the charity stripe to restore the Panther advantage. Hilbert kept the game within one possession until the 5-minute mark when Ackerman, Woolson, and Benzel all made baskets inside to extend the lead to 9. The Hawks battled back, cutting their deficit to 4 points, but Ackerman took over, scoring 8 points in a span of 75 seconds to help put the game away. She converted a three-point play to start the run and then after she made two free throws and assisted a Gratto layup, made a three from the wing to put the Panthers up 66-52 with 45 seconds left. In the final seconds, Murak made a fastbreak layup and Ackerman added a final free throw to bring the game to an end with the Panthers on top 69-56.
Paige Gratto led all scorers in the game with 17 points. She made 3-5 from three and also tallied 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Alexa Ackerman finished with 13 points, scoring 11 of them in the final two minutes. Avery Benzel scored 12 points in the win, while also grabbing 6 rebounds and picking up 6 steals. Amber Murak added 10 points, while Katie Woolson made 4-7 from the field to finish with a season-high 9 points. Raquel Sewell scored 6 points and gathered 9 rebounds off the bench.
The Panthers move to 3-14 with the victory, including a 2-9 mark in AMCC play. They will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 8th, when they head to Pittsburgh to take on Carlow. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. or 30 minutes after the completion of the men's game.
