PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Hilbert College women's basketball team faced the number one squad in the AMCC league and stayed with them for three of the four quarters.
La Roche College, 13-1, used a 16-7 second quarter run to pull away for the 61-43 victory over the 5-10 Hawks.
Hilbert and La Roche traded hoops through the first five minutes of the opening quarter. With an 8-8 score, the Redhawks converted points off of three-straight Hawk turnovers to take a 14-8 lead. That six point turn-around was the difference maker at the end of the quarter.
It took almost two minutes for either team to find the bottom of the net in the second quarter and La Roche struck from down town first. The Redhawks extended their run unti
Shannon Rogers broke the seal on the basket at 6:01 cutting the difference to 13 pts (28-15). After several missed shots by both teams,
Wyann Jackson scored a layup at 4:19 and created what turned out to be the closest the Hawks would get the rest of the way - 11 points (28-17).
La Roche stretched their lead back to 16 points via the three-point line just before the break.
Samantha Heiler led the Hawks offense with five points hitting one long-ball and one jumper in 14 minutes of action. Hilbert posted 38.1 field goal percentage while the hosts connected on almost 52% of their shots.
The Redhawks maintained their double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Kelsi Ebert scored a pair of free throws and sank a bucket while Jackson netted twice from the floor. Rogers hit four times from the charity stripe to complete the scoring in the third period.
La Roche stretched the difference to 20 points after a pair of shots in the fourth quarter and held on from there to the final horn.
Katelyn Proy scored a four points in the final period as Hilbert suffered an 18 point loss.
Kelsi Ebert led the starters with 10 points, three assists and a pair of steals.
Shannon Rogers came off the bench and tossed in 11 points and pulled down a pair of rebounds.
Katelyn Proy added eight points. But it was
Wyann Jackson who led the Hawks with seven rebounds (four offensive).
Hilbert committed 29 turnovers and La Roche was credited with 14 steals which they turned into 25 points off turnovers.
Hilbert closes their regular season schedule with three win-able games. The Hawks host Pitt-Greensburg (8-6) next Saturday, whom they defeated in Pa a few weekends ago. Then Hilbert hosts Penn State Behrend (9-5, third place) who Hilbert fell to in Hamburg (59-56) on Wednesday, Feb 17. The Hawks hit the road for their final game at Penn State Altoona on Feb 20 before the AMCC play-offs begin February 24th.
