Hamburg, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team was unable to keep up with their hosts, Hilbert, late on Wednesday night, falling to the Hawks 61-38.
The Panthers struggled to score early, as they were kept off the board for the first three minutes of play while Hilbert built an early 4-0 lead. Alexa Ackerman made a jumper in transition to get the Panthers off the mark. She followed a pair of Hawk free throws with a three before McKenna Kelly and Abigail Goss hit layups to tie the game at 9. Kelly made another jumper to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 11-9, but the hosts were able to score three in the final minute to take a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.
Hilbert started the second with a three of their own but Daizjah Brown was able to make a jumper on a pass from Ashley Hall to keep the Panthers within one possession. Kelly was able to answer a Hilbert layup with 6:30 remaining, but it was followed by a four-minute dry spell that allowed the Hawks to build a 7-point lead. Trinity Lockwood-Morris ended the drought with a layup at the 2:24 mark. The Hawks were able to respond with a basket of their own, and the Panthers added a Goss free throw to send the game to the break with the Panthers down six.
Pitt-Bradford started the second half off well, as Goss made back-to-back layups to quickly cut the deficit to two. Their string did not last long, as the Hakws made a layup of their own with 8 minutes left in the half before scoring 10 unanswered. After a Panther timeout, Pitt-Bradford was able to lock down defensively, keeping the hosts from scoring for the last 4 minutes of the third. In that span, the Panthers were able to cut the lead down to six as Brown and Katie Woolson hit a pair of free throws each to start an 8-0 run. Brown added a midrange jumper with a minute left and Trinity Lockwood-Morris made a putback layup with 19 seconds left to put the Panthers down 36-30 heading to the fourth.
Unfortunately, the Panthers were not able to keep up with the Hawks in the fourth, as they were outscored 25-8 in the final ten minutes. Hilbert started the quarter on a 6-0 run before Goss and Brown made baskets on back-to-back possessions. Ackerman and Lockwood-Morris added layups later in the quarter, but the Hawks put the game away by making 10 straight free throws down the stretch.
Abigail Goss finished as the leading scorer for the Panthers with 9 points. Daizjah Brown added 8 points as well. Alexa ACkerman finished with 7 points, while also recording 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
The Panthers fall to 3-20 overall with a 1-12 record in AMCC play. They will bring their season to a close on Saturday, as they will host Penn-State Altoona on Senior Day. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 4:00 p.m.
