BRADFORD, Pa. – Mansfield topped the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team, 60-50, in the Panthers' season opener at the KOA Arena Wednesday evening.
"I'm extremely proud," Head Coach Sharay Hall, who served her first game as a collegiate head coach, said. "The girls battled to the end and played extremely well. Sure, we have a lot to work on, but I could not be more proud of the way they battled."
Jennifer Isenberg set career-highs in both scoring with 15 and rebounding with 11 for the first double-double of her collegiate career.
Ali Rinfrette matched Isenberg's 15 points and grabbed eight boards while dishing three assists.
Mansfield (Division II) started hot out of the gate and finished the first period ahead, 17-6.
Rinfrette and Isenberg scored the first Panther points of the season with a free throw and a bucket each to split the six Pitt-Bradford first-period points with three apiece.
Five minutes into go in the second period, Anna Colebert laid one in and Aria Alston-Smith knocked down a three-pointer to spark a 6-0 run that later resulted in a 23-16 Mansfield lead.
A Rinfrette three-pointer with 2:39 left in the half served as the last Panther points of the period, and Mansfield took a 31-19 lead into the break.
A minute into the second half, Colebert connected from long range to bring the Panthers back to within single-digits, 31-22.
The two teams traded buckets down the stretch in the third period, and Isenberg hit a pair of free throws to end the scoring for the half.
The Panther defense denied Mansfield a shot attempt on its final possession of the half and the two teams took a 43-33 Mountaineer lead into the final period.
Isenberg caught fire and brought the Panthers back into the game, hitting a pair of free throws and two more field goals to cut the Mansfield lead to just four, 43-39.
The two teams held tough the next couple minutes, trading buckets – including a pair of layups from Rinfrette and a jumper from Brittany Button.
With Mansfield up with two minutes remaining in regulation, Rinfrette and Etreece Adams connected on layups to help the Panthers keep pace and round out the Panther scoring with the Mountaineers up, 57-50.
Three free throws for Mansfield put the Mountaineers back up double digits and gave them the 60-50 win.
The Panthers won the rebounding battle, 47-33, and shot 32.7 percent from the floor.
Isenberg blocked three shots while Adams sent back a pair.
Pitt-Bradford will be in action next this Friday and Saturday as the Panthers travel to Frostburg State to compete in the Jim Crawley Tip-Off Tournament.
