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Gator Women Victorious Over Earlham
February 9, 2008
MEADVILLE, Pa. – Feeling no ill-effects from a hard-fought one point loss last night, the Allegheny women’s basketball team (8-13, 5-7 NCAC) bounced back with a 75-60 win over Earlham (3-19, 2-11 NCAC) on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore guard Brittany Bell (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) continued her hot streak by matching a career-effort with 20 points and six three-pointers.
The Gators trailed for only 23 seconds in the contest when Earlham scored the game’s first two points prior to a 10-0 Allegheny run ending in a pair of Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) free throws with 16:18 left in the first half.
The Quakers cut the Allegheny advantage to six, at 15-9, with 14:45 left in the period, but saw the Gators embark on an 18-3 run over the next nine minutes to build their lead to 19, at 31-12, after a Wolf layup at the 6:33 mark of the half.
The Gator lead grew to as many as 21 before an Earlham bucket in the final minute sent the game into intermission with a 42-23 Allegheny advantage.
Allegheny’s lead got to as many as 25, at 56-31, when Wolf scored on a fast-break with 14:03 remaining in the game. Earlham, seeking a repeat of their 15-point comeback win at Hiram last night, answered with a 20-7 run over the next eight minutes ending in a Tasha Merrill basket to make the score 63-51 with 6:10 left to play.
After a well-placed timeout by Gator head coach Kate Costanzo, the Gators responded with a 10-0 run culminating in an Emilie Simone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) layup at the 3:48 mark, making the score 73-51 in favor of Allegheny. The Quakers were unable to generate another rally as the Gators preserved the 75-60 win.
Bell’s 20 points marked the second time in four games in which she scored 20 with six three-pointers. In those four contests, she is averaging 17 points while shooting .690 (20-of-29) from three-point range.
Along with Bell, three other Gators reached double-figures including Simone, Wolf, and Laura Magnelli (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area), who went for 12, 10, and 10 respectively. Simone led the Blue and Gold with eight boards while Wolf, Bell, and Hilary Collins (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) each totaled four assists.
Earlham was led by an 18-point, eight-rebound effort by Samantha Lurie while Merrill totaled 17 points and seven boards.
As a team, the Gators shot .466 compared to .364 for the Quakers but were outrebounded 42-34. Allegheny connected on 42% (8-of-19) of their three-point tries while Earlham connected on only one of their 11 attempts.
Winners of three out of their last four, Allegheny looks to avenge a three-point loss in mid-January when it hosts Oberlin on Wednesday, February 13. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. and will open a Gator doubleheader as the men’s team hosts Hiram at 8:00 p.m.