Gators Hang Close to #3 Messiah

Nov 30, 2007

BOX SCORE

SALISBURY, Md. - The Allegheny women's basketball team (1-4) had the daunting task of facing Messiah College (5-0), and battled the third ranked team in the D3hoops.com poll the whole way, trailing by only two at half before falling by a final of 71-57 in the opening game of the Optimist Classic hosted by Salisbury College.

The Gators opened the contest in a lull offensively, as Messiah jumped out to a five point lead at 7-2 following a layup by Ashley Brooks at the 15:35 mark of the first half. After a timeout, Allegheny responded with a 7-2 run of their own culminating in a free throw by Laura Magnelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area), tying the score at nine apiece with 12:51 remaining in the period.

Allegheny grabbed its first lead of the game, 21-19, following a Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) layup with 6:34 left before the break. The Gators built the advantage to four after a pair of Britni Mohney (Ford City, Pa./Ford City) free throws on Allegheny’s next possession, but saw Messiah rally to tie things up at 23 apiece with just over five minutes remaining in the half.

The lead changed hands several times over the duration of the period before Messiah grabbed a two-point, 30-28 lead at intermission.

The Falcons gained an early advantage in the second half, and built their lead to seven at 43-36 after a Katie Kalb layup at the 12:36 mark. Allegheny battled and got as close as two, when Emilie Simone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) scored on a layup with 9:37 left in the game taking the score 45-43; however, the third-ranked Falcons used a timeout to their advantage and went on a 13-6 run over the next six minutes to increase their lead to 61-49 with just over three minutes left to play.

The Gators were unable to answer, as Messiah outscored Allegheny 10-8 the rest of the way to earn a 71-57 victory.

Simone led the way in the Gator upset bid with a game- and career-high 20 points while Wolf turned in an all-around performance with 11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocked shots. Hilary Collins (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) aided the cause with seven points, three boards, and three assists off the bench.

Messiah had three players score in double-figures led by Nikki Lobach with 18, Brooks with 16, and Kalb with 11.

The team numbers were very close, as Messiah shot .455 from the field compared to .432 for Allegheny while the Gators held a slim 31-30 edge on the boards. The Blue and Gold also shot a season-best .900 (18-of-20) from the free throw line with Simone connecting on all six of her charity stripe attempts.

The Gators await the loser of the Salisbury/Shenandoah matchup later this evening to see who they will face tomorrow in the tournament consolation game at 1:00 p.m.

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