Pittsburgh, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team received a standout performance from freshman Paige Gratto on Saturday afternoon, but unfortunately, the Panther effort fell short as they lost to Carlow 83-74 in Pittsburgh.
Gratto got the Panthers started in the contest, as she scored the first 7 Panther points. She opened the scoring with a fast break layup, and then after converting a pair of free throws, made a three from the wing to give the Panthers a 7-6 lead after 4 minutes of action. Unluckily for Pitt-Bradford, Carlow also had a player get off to a hot start, as Sydney Carr scored 10 of the first 12 points for the Celtics, keeping the hosts in front. Gratto gave the Panthers a short-lived lead with back-to-back layins, but this was followed by a 9-0 run by Carlow, which opened up a 21-13 lead. Gratto made a putback layup and then after a free throw, made another three to cut the lead to 4 at the end of the first. She scored 16 of the first 18 Panther points, with the other two coming on an Ackerman layup.
The second period started with a pair of Carlow free throws, and Abby Goss kept the deficit at four with a layup at the 8:15 mark. The Celtics made multiple runs throughout the quarter, looking to break away from Pitt-Bradford, but the Panthers were able to battle back each time, using scoring runs of their own to keep the lead in single digits. After the hosts pushed their lead to 9 points with half the quarter remaining, Goss ended a 3-minute dry spell from the field with another layup and Gratto made another three on the next possession. McKenna Kelly made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to two points, however, the Panthers could not erase the lead, as the Celtics scored on their next three possessions to push their lead back to eight points. The Panthers kept Carlow off the board for the final 2 minutes of the half, as Raquel Sewell made a pair of free throws and Paige Gratto added one more to send the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford trailing 37-32.
Paige Gratto started the 2nd half similarly to the first, as she quickly scored the Panthers' first four points of the 3rd, but Pitt-Bradford was unable to make any headway cutting into the lead, as each basket was answered by the hosts. The Celtics were eventually able to push their lead to 9 multiple times, but Ackerman and Kelly were able to make a three-pointer each to keep the lead in check. Gratto quickly cut the deficit to 3 with a pair of free throws, and then following two straight field goals from the Celtics, scored a last-second layup to keep the Carlow advantage at 5 points heading into the final quarter.
Ackerman hit a three to start the 4th, but her effort was quickly matched on the following possession. Carlow eventually extended their lead to 10 with 6 minutes remaining. Amber Cross converted an old-fashioned three-point play before Sewell made a putback layup to get the lead back to five. The hosts eventually pushed their lead back to 10 before the Panthers made one final push. Cross made a layup with 1:35 to go and then after a defensive stop, Gratto made a three to put Pitt-Bradford down 77-72. After the three, the Panthers were unable to get a stop as the Celtics put the game away with a final jump shot and then 4 straight from the line.
Paige Gratto finished with 31 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. She made 11-16 from the field, including 4-6 from three and 5-8 from the line. Her performance was the first 30+ point performance for the Panthers since Jennifer Isenberg scored 33 in a win over D'Youville in January 2019. Alexa Ackerman and McKenna Kely also reached double figures for the Panthers, as Ackerman scored 13 and Kelly added 11. Abigail Goss scored 8 points and led the Panthers with 9 rebounds.
Pitt-Bradford falls to 4-8 on the season with a 1-5 record in AMCC play. They will return to KOA Arena for a matchup with Alfred State on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
