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Yeowomen Trip up Gators 71-68
January 16, 2008
OBERLIN, Ohio – Despite a career-high 15 rebounds from Shannon Culbreath (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoore Academy) and four players in double figures; Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), Britney Bell (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield), Laura Magnelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) and Culbreath; the Allegheny College Gators (5-10, 2-4 NCAC) fell to the Oberlin Yeowomen (2-11, 1-4) by a 71-68 score.
The Gators came out firing on all cylinders to start the game, jumping out to leads of 3-0 and 11-3. Bell was the top catalyst, scoring 11 of the team’s first 19 points of the game, as the Blue and Gold led by 12 at 21-9 halfway through the opening period.
The feisty Oberlin squad would not back down from the challenge, as the Yeowomen out-scored Allegheny 23-16 over the remainder of the half, with a large part of that run being due to the hosts’ blistering 6-of-7 shooting (85.7%) from long range, closing to within five points at halftime, with the Gators leading 37-32 at intermission.
Oberlin kept their momentum into the second half, out-scoring Allegheny 16-11 to start the second period, knotting the score at 48 apiece before Wolf hit a running lay-in, pushing the Gator lead once again to two. The Yeowomen took their first lead of the game with 10:17 on the clock when Alyssa Clark converted on an old-fashioned three-point play, giving the hosts a 51-50 lead. The Gators answered with a three-point basket from Britni Mohney (Ford City, Pa./Ford City), pushing the lead to two, before another three-point play, this one from Katie Thompson, once again gave the hosts a one-point lead.
After a three-point basket gave Oberlin their largest lead of the game at 57-53, the Gator defense tightened, helping the visitors to a 5-1 run, knotting the game at 58 apiece. One free throw by Oberlin was countered by a pair from the Gators, giving Allegheny a 60-59 lead, one that kept until Thompson hit a three-point basket with just under three minutes remaining in the game, once again giving the hosts a two-point lead.
Allegheny quickly responded with a Magnelli jumper in the lane, before Thompson again scored, and her tally was matched by Clark, giving the hosts a four-point lead. Wolf answered back, cutting the deficit in half at 66-64, until Roneisha Kinney hit 1-of-2 free throws, pushing the advantage to three. Hilary Collins (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) scored off of a pass from Wolf, cutting the Oberlin lead to one with just over 30 seconds to play, until Alicia Smith buried a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left, re-upping Oberlin’s lead to three at 69-66. Culbreath hit a jumper in the lane, cutting the deficit to one, before the hosts hit a pair of free throws to ice the game, securing the 71-68 victory.
Wolf scored a season-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field before fouling out, with Bell scoring 13 and Magnelli and Culbreath each 10. Collins narrowly missed double figures with eight points, while also pulling down three rebounds, second most on the team. Bell dished out four assists, a team-high, while Culbreath and Wolf each picked up a pair of steals.
Oberlin was led by Thompson who scored 20 off of the bench, while Smith scored 19 and Clark 14. Kinney pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, while Syrea Thomas dished out four assists to pace the squad.
The Gators look to rebound from their current skid against Kenyon College on Saturday, January 19, the first game of a men’s/women’s double header, starting at 1:00 p.m.