Allegheny Edges Earlham 71-67

Jan 5, 2008

BOX SCORE

RICHMOND, Ind. - The Allegheny women's basketball team (5-8, 2-2 NCAC) got back to .500 in conference play with a 71-67 win at Earlham (2-10, 1-3 NCAC) on Saturday afternoon.

Both sides played close throughout the first half with Earlham building its largest lead of the game, 23-20, after a Samantha Lurie free throw with 9:03 left in the period. The Gators would pull even on their next trip down the court after a Brittany Bell (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) three-pointer with 8:14 left before the break. The lead changed hands several times over the duration of the half before the game hit intermission dead-locked at 37.

Allegheny grabbed control early in the second half and built a nine-point advantage when Emilie Simone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) connected on a layup with 8:30 left to play. Earlham chipped away at the lead and eventually overtook the Gators by two, at 67-65, when Lurie scored on a triple with 1:59 remaining.

Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) would cut the lead to one, 67-66, with a free throw on the Gators next possession and Simone would put Allegheny ahead, 68-67, with a layup during the following trip down the floor. The Blue and Gold tightened defensively with stops on both Earlham possessions that followed and were able to seal the deal with a layup and free throw by Laura Magnelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) during the final 25 seconds of the game.

Three Gators scored in double figures, Simone (18), Bell (16), and Magnelli (10) while Shannon Culbreath (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor Academy) grabbed a game-high tying nine boards. Wolf contributed across the board once again with nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

The Quakers got a game-high 19 points from Tasha Merrill and had two others in double-figures including Whitney McBurrows (15) and Lurie (13).

As a team, Allegheny out shot Earlham .509 to .390 and held a 41-36 edge on the boards. Free throw shooting was crucial as the Gators hit 10-of-14 (.714) compared to 14-of-28 (.500) by Earlham.

Allegheny has the next week off from competition and will look to make it two in a row in NCAC play when it hosts Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, January 12. Tip-off from Meadville is slated for 1:00 p.m.

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