Gators Score an Upset at Denison

BOX SCORE | NCAC Tournament Bracket (.pdf)

GRANVILLE, Ohio - The Allegheny women's basketball team (11-14, 8-8 NCAC) picked up what was arguably their biggest win under first year head coach Kate Costanzo with a 67-59 upset of Denison (15-10, 11-5 NCAC) on Saturday. The win also sets up a rematch in the quarterfinals of the NCAC Tournament on Tuesday as the Gators go into the bracket as the #5 seed with the Big Red sitting in the four spot.

Allegheny trailed only once in the game when Denison went ahead 3-2 after an Anna Mayo three-point play with 17:42 left in the first half. The Gators led by one, at 15-14, before jumping out with a 9-0 run to make the score 25-15 following a Jennifer Robinson (Cabot, Pa./Knoch) layup with 7:45 left in the half.

Denison was able to pull within two, at 29-27, before Laura Magnelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) buried a three-pointer with :45 seconds left on the clock to put the Gators ahead 32-27 at the break.

Allegheny opened the second half on a 10-0 run culminating in a Hilary Collins (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) layup with 17:05 remaining in the game. Denison answered with a 16-3 run, cutting the Gator advantage to 43-42 with 10:52 left to play. However, the Blue and Gold came right back with 13-2 rally ending in a Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) jumper to go ahead 56-44 with 5:08 left in the game.

The lead never fell below seven the rest of the way as the Gators picked up the 67-59 win.

Wolf led the way with game-highs in points (17), assists (5), and steals (3) while grabbing six rebounds and shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Brittany Bell (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) and Collins also scored in double-figures with 16 and 10, respectively, while Shannon Culbreath (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor Academy) totaled seven points and seven boards.

Denison put three players in double-digits, including Carolyn Simpson (13), Sarah Perrine (13), and Ellen O’Brien (12) while Simpson tied for the game-high with seven rebounds.

The Gators only shot .386 from the field but held Denison to a .368 shooting clip and held a 25-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The Big Red won the rebounding battle 39-36.

Tip-off for Tuesday’s rematch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Denison defeated the Gators in last year’s conference championship game after the two squads had split their regular season meetings.

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