Scranton, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball returned to action after their holiday break on Thursday, traveling to Scranton to take on the Marywood Pacers. The Panthers led the game at the break but were unable to stay with the hosts in the second half, falling 71-49.
The Pacers started the scoring on their first possession, but the Panthers were able to stay with the hosts as Alexa Ackerman got the Panthers on the board a minute later with a floating jump shot. Abigail Goss made a layup to keep the Panthers down one point before Avery Benzel tied the game at 5 with 6:22 left in the first. Marywood was able to roll off five quick points, but Pitt-Bradford responded by locking down defensively for the remainder of the quarter. They kept the Pacers off the board for the last 5:33 of the first and scored 10 unanswered points of their own to turn the deficit into a five-point lead. McKenna Kelly made a pair of free throws to start the rally. Daizjah Brown gave the Panthers their first lead of the contest with a layup at 1:54 before Ashley Hall made a jumper on a second chance opportunity to push the lead to three. Kelly was able to steal the ball from Marywood in the final seconds and race down the court for a last-second layup.
The Panthers were able to maintain their lead early in the second quarter, as they were able to answer each Marywood basket with one of their own. After three minutes the Pacers were able to tie the game at 19, and even take a one-point edge before a Trinity Lockwood Morris three-pointer put the Panthers back in front. After the teams traded baskets for a three-minute span, Summer Anderson restored the Pitt-Bradford lead with a layup with 1:48 left in the half. following a Marywood free throw, Ashley Hall made a three-pointer in transition and after another defensive stop, Anderson made a putback layup to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 31-25. The hosts were able to make a field goal at the buzzer to send the game to halftime with Pitt-Bradford leading by four.
Hall restored the Panther's 6-point lead with a jump shot on the first possession of the half but saw the lead quickly disappear as Marywood quickly scored eight straight. Ackerman was able to stop the Pacer run with a three-pointer to put Pitt-Bradford back in front. A Hall putback layup put the Panthers up 42-40 with 4:30 left in the third, but the hosts closed the quarter on an 8-1 lead to take the lead going into the final period.
In the fourth, the Panthers were unable to get into an offensive rhythm, as the Pacers held them to just one point, a Benzel free throw, for the first eight and a half minutes of the quarter. In that time, Marywood scored 23 points of their own to put the game away. Katie Woolson got the Panthers back on the board from the free throw line with 1:19 left and Brown added a pair of free throws in the final minute. Goss closed the scoring with a layup in the final seconds.
Ashley Hall finished the game as the Panthers' leading scorer with 11 points on 5-10 shooting. She also grabbed 7 rebounds. McKenna Kelly also finished in double figures, scoring 10 points. Daizjah Brown scored 6 points off the bench and also grabbed 7 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Avery Benzel was held to two points in the game but was able to record 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals.
The Panthers fall to 2-8 with the loss. As they move into the new year, they will begin their AMCC schedule, as they return to action on Wednesday, January 4th with a home game against LaRoche. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
