Gators Fall Short in Overtime Thriller

Jan 24, 2007

Boxscore

MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College women’s basketball team came up short in a back-and-forth league battle against visiting College of Wooster (9-8, 4-4 NCAC) at the David V. Wise Center Wednesday evening, eventually falling to the Fighting Scots 77-71 in overtime. With the loss, the Gators fall to 12-5 overall and 6-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Senior Katie Kestler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) led Allegheny with 22 points on the night, connecting on six three-pointers for the second straight game. Fellow senior Jennifer Latronica (Gibsonia, Pa./Deer Lakes) notched her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, as well as tallying a game-high three blocked shots.

The Gators came out with fire in their eyes early, jumping out to a 21-10 lead following a 10-2 run midway through the first half. The fire blinked out, however, as the hosts went without a single point over a six minute span in the latter minutes of the half. Wooster, meanwhile, cut the margin to four (26-22) at 6:02 thanks to three longballs from Beth Besancon Sidle and was down just five at the half (31-26).

Allegheny held the lead for the first seven minutes of the second stanza before another three ball from Besancon Sidle turned the score in the visitors’ favor at 40-38 with 13:06 to play. Freshman Emilie Simone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) canned a three of her own shortly after, beginning a carousel of lead changes that would last the remainder of the game.

The Scots took a six-point lead (49-43) at 10:13, but Kestler and sophomore Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) kept the hosts alive with three-pointers and free throws down the stretch. Kestler nailed two deep balls in the final 10:00, while Wolf went to the line six times, connecting on five of those attempts. The Gator sophomore sent the game into an extra session with a layup with 36 seconds on the clock, knotting the game at 61.

Allegheny jumped out quickly in the overtime period as Kestler and Becca Gasiewicz (Grove City, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) nailed a pair of three-pointers to up the advantage to 67-63 just over a minute in. The visitors recovered quickly, scoring on their next three possessions to reverse the advantage in their favor 70-67. Two free throws by Latronica cut the margin to 70-69 at 1:08, but Wooster nailed down 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Kestler finished the game 8-of-17 from the field in racking up her fourth 20-point game of the season. Also reaching double-figures for the Gators was Wolf with 13 points, including nine from the charity stripe, and Simone with 10 points. Wolf also added four rebounds and a game-high seven assists.

Wooster put four players in double-figures led by Besancon Sidle’s 24. She matched Kestler’s three-point total with six, going 8-of-15 overall and 6-of-9 from deep. Carly Loehrke added 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while freshmen Kim Wenz and Winnie Adrien chipped in with 14 and 10, respectively.

The Gators aim to rebound this weekend on a road trip to Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 2 p.m. Allegheny downed the Battling Bishops 67-61 earlier this season.

Printable Version