Cresson, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Mount Aloysius for an AMCC matchup. The Panthers were unable to come back from a 6-21 2nd quarter, ultimately falling to the Mounties 78-69.
The Panthers were able to jump out to an early lead in the contest as Ashley Hall made a three-pointer on a 2nd chance opportunity to open the scoring. Alexa Ackerman restored the 3-point lead after a Mount Aloysius basket with a mid-range jumper, but the lead did not last long, as the hosts quickly scored 7 straight to take a 5-9 lead. The Panthers were able to erase the lead with a pair of McKenna Kelly free throws and a putback layup from Abigail Goss and jumped in front on an Avery Benzel free throw. The hosts slowly went back ahead and were leading 16-13 with 2:25 left in the first, but the Panthers kept them off the board for the remainder of the quarter and took the lead on a Daizjah Brown jump shot and two more free throws from Kelly.
Pitt-Bradford was unable to hold onto the momentum as the game moved to the 2nd quarter, as the hosts scored the first six points of the quarter. Lauryn Moore got the Panthers on the board in the quarter with a putback layup and after a pair of Mountie free throws, Ashley hall hit a three to cut the lead to 2 points. The Panthers were unable to crack the Mount Aloysius defense in the final four minutes of the half, as they were limited to just one Benzel free throw. While the Panthers were unable to get back on the scoreboard, the Mounties scored 13 unanswered of their own.
The game returned to action in the second half with the Panthers trailing 23-37, but the deficit only grew after the break, as the Mounties scored the first 4 points of the half. Trailing by 19, Pitt-Bradford began to launch a comeback attempt, starting with an Ackerman three with 7:06 left in the quarter. The longball started a 12-0 Panther run that saw the Mount advantage cut down to 7 points. Hall converted a three-point play in the rally while Brown and Goss each added layups. The Panthers cut further into the lead in the last two minutes of the quarter with another rally, scoring seven unanswered in less than a minute to reduce the Mountie edge to 5 points. Mount Aloysius was able to hit a three of their own in the last minute, but two free throws from HAll sent the game to its final stanza with Pitt-Bradford down 6.
The hosts caught fire for the first three minutes of the 4th quarter, making three long balls and a three-point play in the span to push their lead back to 15. They maintained their double-digit lead for the majority of the 4th, with the Panthers only cutting the difference to 9 points with 4 final tallies in the last minute of play.
Alexa Ackerman led the Panthers in scoring as she finished with 14 points. She made 3 three-pointers and added 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Ashley Hall tallied her second double-double of the season as she scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Trinity Lockwood-Morris added 11 points and 5 rebounds off the bench.
The Panthers fall to 2-10 overall and 0-2 in the AMCC after the loss. They will be back on the road for their midweek matchup, as they head to Erie, Pa. for a tough matchup with Penn State-Behrend. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
