Allegheny Defeats Penn State Behrend to Secure Spot in Semifinals
Allegheny College took a 7-point lead into halftime and never looked back, defeating host institution Penn State Behrend, 71-61, to advance to the ECAC Tournament Semifinals.
The Gators were backed by strong performances from their starting five, with all five reaching double-digit scoring, combining for 67 of the team’s 71 points. Emily Lauer led the way with a team-high 17 points, with Ava Kobus and Bella Antonacci not too far behind with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Jess Bickart and Sarah Santicola each had 10 points, with Santicola grabbing 14 rebounds for a double-double and Bickart pulling down 9 rebounds for a near-double-double of her own.
Penn State Behrend was led by Madilyn Boyer, who scored a game-high 24 points, on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor, and Morgan Altavilla, who had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Alaina Fabin and Alexis Furyes each had 10 rebounds in the game while also recording a combined 7 steals and 17 points.
The Lions rode their home court advantage in the early going, leading by as many as 7 points, at 15-8, midway through the first quarter. But Allegheny put together a 13-1 run to take a 5-point lead of their own and finished the quarter up, 23-18.
The Gators continued their run to open the second quarter and nearly gave themselves the first double-digit lead of the afternoon, but it was Penn State Behrend’s turn to go on a sizeable run. The Lions, trailing 27-18, scored the game’s next 14 points, turning their 9-point deficit into a 5-point lead with just over 4 minutes remaining in the half. They continued to hold onto the lead for the next few minutes, but their offense went cold and Allegheny went on a 12-0 run over the final 2:20 of the half to take a 41-34 lead into the locker rooms.
Allegheny held a high-single-digit lead for most of the third quarter before Penn State Behrend closed the gap to just 3 points heading into the final frame. The Gators showed no panic in the beginning of the fourth quarter, scoring the first 7-of-9 points of the quarter to push it back to a multi-possession game. The Lions attempted to put together one last run to overtake Allegheny, but the Gators finally broke through the double-digit threshold and pushed their lead to as many as 13 points before closing out the 71-61 win.
Allegheny advances to play McDaniel College on Sunday, March 9th at 1:00 p.m.