McCANDLESS, Pa. - In the third quarter of today's contest, La Roche relinquished a 13-point halftime lead by allowing Hilbert to outscore them 26-12. Then, the Redhawks responded by trouncing the Hawks in the fourth, scoring 27 points while holding Hilbert to only 11. The Redhawks would win the AMCC Game of the Week, 84-69, LRU's second highest point total in a conference game this season. Today's victory marks the ninth straight for La Roche women's basketball. At 10-0 in AMCC action, the team is off to their best start in conference play since 2016-17, the last year the Redhawks won the conference championship.
As a unit, La Roche was an impeccable 11 of 15 (73%) from the field in the fourth while holding Hilbert to 3 of 14 (21%) in the quarter. Jenna Cole scored 11 of her season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, shooting a perfect 4 of 4 from the field.
Of her team's performance down the stretch, Head Coach Kamela Gissendanner said: "Our 4th quarter focus and intensity on defense was the difference in getting us a win today. We came out extremely flat and unfocused in the 3rd. We challenged them as a staff to make the changes and we certainly responded. We had multiple people step up in that quarter and came out with the win." Six Redhawks scored in the quarter.
Jenna Cole recorded her first double-double of the season on 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, the most rebounds by in a single game by any player in the confernece this season. Cole did so while shooting 6 of 8 (75%) from the field and a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
Dasja Anderson put on a stellar all-around performance, posting 16 points, 6 rebounds, and four assists while shooting 8 of 11 (73%) from the floor. Her one blemish was committing a team-high five turnovers.
Underneath the basket, La Roche was dominant. Out-rebounding the Hawks 47-31 and scoring 46 of their 84 points inside the paint.
Final Score: La Roche: 84, Hilbert: 69
Records: La Roche (10-4, AMCC: 10-0)
How it Happened
The conference juggernauts opened the contests by exchanging buckets, the score was tied 6-6 four minutes into the first. La Roche then managed to outscoring Hilbert 20-10 over the remainder of the quarter to take a 10-point lead after one quarter of action.
La Roche made the most of their opportunities at the line in the first, knocking down 10 of 12 (83%) free throws as a unit. Ayanna Mazyck scored 10 of 17 total points in the first, knocking down 4 of 6 field goals. La Roche added three points to their lead in the second quarter, shooting 50% from the field.
The third quarter is where the Redhawks struggled the most, getting outscored by the visitors 26-12, relinguishing their 13-point halftime lead. In the quarter, Hilbert shot 10 of 12 (46%) from the field while La Roche shot just 3 of 14 (21%). The visitors led 58-57 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
In the fourth quarter, La Roche returned to form and outscored the Hawks 27-11 to collect their 9th straight victory.
Inside the Box Score
Ayanna Mazyck put up an impressive performance, posting 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block while shooting 6 of 10 (60%) from the field and 3 of 4 (75%) from three-point range.
Despite shooting just 2 of 11 from the field, Danajah Sanders was relentless driving to the basket, scoring 9 of her 13 points at the free throw line.
Shaundrea Butler dished out a team-high 5 assists and added 9 points, 2 rebounds and a steal to the stat sheet.
The Hawks Emily Gawlak and Taylor Corts combined for 52 points on the day, attempting 43 of Hilbert's 66 total shots.
Hilbert, who averages 38.2 rebounds per contest, was limited to 31 boards on the day.
Off the bench, Nia Thomas appeared all over the box score, recording 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a block.
NEXT UP: Women's basketball takes Sunday off before traveling to Pitt Bradford Monday, January 20th to take on the 10th place Panthers.