Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team battled the visiting Pitt-Greensburg Bobcats early but were outscored by 11 points in the second half to lose the game with a final score of 71-55. The Panthers faced a familiar foe as leading the visiting Bobcats was Pitt-Bradford alum and former teammate of head coach Kaserra Owens, Darien Lantz. The two played three seasons together and were facing each other for the first time as coaching adversaries.
The Panthers drew first blood as Avery Benzel started the scoring with a free throw, but The Bobcats took over after that, quickly outscoring Pitt-Bradford 12-2 over the next three minutes. The teams traded threes with 5:36 to go in the quarter, but the Panthers were the team to respond to close the period, as they outscored the visitors 13-1 to finish the first. Abigail Goss made a shot inside to start the rally, and after a Pitt-Greensburg free throw, made a layup off of a pass from Avery Benzel to cut the lead to 6. The Panthers made two more stops which were followed by jumpers from Benzel. A Summer Anderson free throw put the Panthers down 1 with 35 seconds left in the quarter before McKenna Kelly grabbed two offensive rebounds in a row after Anderson missed the second, and converted a layup to give the Panthers the lead. On the ensuing inbounds play, Alexa Ackerman was able to sneak up on the Bobcats, steal the ball and make a quick layup to close the quarter with the Panthers up 19-16.
The Panther advantage did not last long in the second quarter, as the Bobcats limited the Panthers to a Kelly jumper over the first 3:20 of the period. In that span, they were able to score 12 points of their own to take a 28-21 lead. Anderson ended the rally with a layup before Alexa Ackerman answered a Bobcat three with a long ball of her own to keep the deficit at 5. Anderson added two more layups in the final minutes, sending the game to halftime with Pitt-Bradford trailing 38-34.
The Panthers came out of the break sharp as Goss was able to score 6 straight points in 2:24 to give the Panthers a 40-38 lead. The Bobcats quickly tied the game back up on their next possession, and then once again limited the Panthers to one basket, an Ackerman jump shot, while pushing out to a double-digit lead. Daizjah Brown hit two free throws to keep the deficit at 8 points with just over a minute left in the period, but the Bobcats converted a three-point play and added a midrange jumper to go to the 4th with the Panthers down 13.
They continued their rally in the final stanza, as the Bobcats scored the first four points of the fourth. Benzel made a corner three to slow the charge, but quickly saw her effort matched on the other side. A Goss layup put the Panthers over the 50-point mark, but it was the last field goal Pitt-Bradford would register as they were only able to add five free throws over the final five minutes of play.
Abigail Goss led the Panthers with 14 points. She shot 6-12 from the field and grabbed 6 rebounds. Avery Benzel finished with 10 points and 6 assists, while Alexa Ackerman added 12. McKenna Kelly was a force on the boards off the bench, as she led the Panthers with 12 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end. She also added 5 points and 2 assists.
The loss drops Pitt-Bradford to 3-13 with a 1-5 record in AMCC play. They will be back in KOA Arena for their midweek matchup, as they host the Hilbert Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
