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Gators Fall in NCAC Opener
November 30, 2004
WOOSTER, Ohio - The Allegheny women’s basketball team lost a close game to the College of Wooster Tuesday night by a score of 63-59. The Gators are now 3-2 and 0-1 in the NCAC while the Fighting Scots improve to 2-1 and 1-0.
The Gators started slow and found themselves down by seven points early. A Beth Van Parys (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) trey, off a pass from junior guard Kristen Lyzen (Brook Park, Ohio/Midpark), at the 9:28 mark gave the Gators their first lead since an opening fast break basket by junior forward Courtney Steding (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry).
The lead would change hands five times during the half as neither team could find a rhythm.
A last second three point shot by Beth Besancon gave the College of Wooster a two-point halftime lead.
Wooster used a 6-0 run out of the half to extend their lead to eight before Allegheny answered with a 12-3 run of their own sparked by seven points from Lyzen.
The game then saw the lead change hands four more times before Wooster retained the lead for good with 8:24 to play.
Allegheny had a few chances to tie the game or take the lead but couldn’t find the bottom of the net.
With 20 seconds to play and Wooster holding onto a six-point lead, Steding banked in a three-pointer to cut the lead and keep Allegheny’s chances alive. A missed free throw by Maria Gonzalez and a defensive board by Lyzen gave the Gators an opportunity to tie with 13 seconds remaining.
Lyzen was then fouled taking a three point shot that just missed the goal and was sent to the line for three shots and a chance to tie the game. Unfortunately, Lyzen was unable to make a shot and Wooster would hold on to win the game by four points.
Wooster used a huge rebounding edge and lived in the paint to surpass the Gators. Carly Loehrke and Alexis Louttit grabbed 13 and 10 rebounds respectively, as the Scots pulled down 51 total rebounds to Allegheny’s 40. The Scots turned 19 offensive rebounds into 32 points, 14 points more than Allegheny put up from the same distance.
Allegheny’s bench led the way scoring 35 points. Lyzen and Katie Kestler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) led the offense with 11 points each. Steding continued her double-digit scoring with 10 points and also pulled down 12 boards. Van Parys finished with nine points, all scored in the first half.
Leading the way for Wooster was Loehrke with 18 points, while Natalie Barone finished with 11 points.
The Gators remain in conference play for their next contest as Denison (Ohio) University visits the Wise Center on Saturday, December 4 for a 2 p.m. tip.