Alfred, N.Y. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team was on the road for the final time this season as they took on Alfred State. The Panthers fell behind the Pioneers early and despite a short 2nd half rally, lost the game 85-63.
The hosts opened the scoring with a three-pointer on their first possession and kept the Panthers off the board for nearly two minutes until Abigail Goss made a layup to get Pitt-Bradford started. After an Alfred State layup, the Panthers were able to score on back-to-back possessions to take the lead, as Paige Gratto made a putback, and Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh stole the ball in the backcourt and raced to the basket for a fast break layup of her own. The lead changed hands on five straight possessions until another three from Alfred State put the Pioneers ahead for good. The basket was part of a 13-3 run that saw the hosts open up a 9-point advantage. Abu-Aiadeh was able to pull the Panthers a bit closer with a three in the final minute of the quarter to send the game to the 2nd period with Pitt-Bradford trailing 22-16.
The Panthers struggled to get started in the second quarter and were not able to make a field goal for the first five and a half minutes of the period. In that Span, the Pioneers scored 9 points, while Pitt-Bradford managed a pair of free throws. Goss ended the cold streak with a three-point play, and Gratto added a layup, but both baskets were answered by the hosts. After the Gratto layup, the Panthers were again kept off the scoreboard, this time for the last three minutes of the quarter, allowing Alfred State to score 6 unanswered and take a 42-23 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Pitt-Bradford came out of the halftime break firing, as they were able to outscore the Pioneers 11-4 over the first three minutes of the 3rd to cut the deficit to 12. McKenna Kelly started the rally with a layup and a free throw and Abu-Aiadeh followed with a three. After Alfred State answered with a layup Goss and Ackerman came back with a basket inside and a three to put Pitt-Bradford down 46-34. Unfortunately, the Panthers rally came to an end with the Ackerman long ball, and the hosts were able to push their lead back to 19 after two minutes.
The Panthers entered the final period trailing by 15 points but quickly saw the deficit grow to 20 in the first minute of the 4th. Gratto scored 16 points for the Panthers in the quarter, including a stretch of 7 straight at the beginning of the quarter. Alfred State was able to counter nearly every basket for the Panthers, and even added to their lead over the last 10 minutes of play.
For the game, Gratto led the Panthers with 22 points. she made 8-17 from the field and added 5-6 from the line. Yasmine Abu Aiadeh scored 13 points, while Abigail Goss added 11 points and led the Panthers with 7 rebounds. Katie Woolson provided a spark off the bench for Pitt-Bradford, finishing with 5 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Panthers all to 8-13 on the season, with a 5-10 mark in conference play. They will play their final three games of the regular season at home, starting with a matchup against Carlow on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in KOA Arena.
