Cresson, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team hit the road on Saturday for an AMCC matchup with Mount Aloysius. The Panthers struggled early and ultimately fell to the Mounties 76-65.
The Panthers stuck with the hosts early, as they were able to answer each mountie basket with one of their own. Alexa Ackerman answered a Mount Aloysius three with one for the Panthers to start the game and then Avery Benzel made a layup after a Mountie basket to tie the game at 5. Paige Gratto made two layups to put the Panthers in front for a minute, but a Mountie three-point play started an 8-0 run over four minutes that put the hosts ahead. Ackerman made a pair of layups to stop the rally, however, the Mounties added four more points in the last minute to take a 21-11 lead after the first.
Abigail Goss started the second quarter with a Panther layup and then a few minutes later, Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh cut the lead back to single digits, making a three-pointer and then adding a free throw on the next possession to put the Panthers down 17-25. Pitt-Bradford was unable to hold onto the momentum as Abu-Aiadeh's free throw was followed by a long dry spell that only ended in the final seconds of the half. The run saw the hosts extend their lead to 16 points until Abu-Aiadeh made a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford trailing 20-33.
Pitt-Bradford scored the first basket of the second half as Ackerman got things started with a three, but her long ball was countered by two in a row from the Mounties. Paige Gratto scored the next six points for the Panthers over the next few minutes, however, Pitt-Bradford was unable to cut into the deficit, as the Mounties answered each basket. A layup with 3:09 left in the quarter pushed the Mount Aloysius lead to its high mark of 17 points. The Panthers answered and were able to close the quarter on the front foot. Abu-Aiadeh made another three to start a rally. Raquel Sewell made a putback layup to answer a Mountie layup and then Benzel cut the lead back to 12 with two from the free throw line. In the final seconds, Abu-Aiadeh made another buzzer-beating three to answer a long ball from Mount Aloysius, pushing the game to the 4th quarter with the Panthers down 12.
The Panthers locked down defensively to start the final period, holding the Mounties to one point over the first three-and-a-half minutes. In that span, Pitt Bradford was able to reduce the deficit back to single digits. Paige Gratto made a layup to start the quarter before Abu-Aiadeh made another three to put the Panthers down 50-58. The Mounties countered with a quick four points to force a Panther timeout. After the break in the action, Pitt-Bradford made one final attempt to erase the lead. Ackerman restarted the game with a three and then McKenna Kelly converted a steal into two free throws on the next possession. After a Mountie basket, Ackerman made another three to put the Panthers down 6 points with 4 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Panthers could come to erasing the lead. Ackerman made a pair of late three-pointers but it was not enough to keep up with the hosts who were able to push their winning margin back to 11 by the final buzzer.
Alexa Ackerman led the Panthers with 20 points in the game, making 6 three-pointers. Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh added 5 more threes, finishing with 16 points off the bench. Paige Gratto also reached double figures, scoring 13 points while grabbing 7 rebounds. McKenna Kelly led the team with 9 rebounds and also registered 4 steals.
The Panthers fall to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 in AMCC play. They will be back on the road for their midweek matchup, as they will travel to Hamburg, N.Y. to take on Hilbert on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
