HAMBURG, N.Y. - The Hilbert women's basketball team honored their three seniors - Kateland Ball, Jenna Crans, and Natalie Whitman - prior to today's contest. After falling to Pitt-Greensburg 84-39 a month ago, the Hawks were able to expose their weaknesses  and forced the Bobcats to earn a 73-65 overtime win.
 
Greensburg had four players in double figures - Emily Nelson with 12, Chianti Sivek with 11, Morgan Biddle and Kayla Dames each had 10. Nelson added eight assists, while Dames finished with five blocks.

Whitman continued her strong season with 25 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. Kylie Reinholz added ten points, three assists, and three steals. Ball had nine points and two assists and Wyann Jackson pulled down eight caroms to go with her eight points. Amber Hay had six assists, eight rebounds, and two key blocks.

Kateland Ball forced a turnover and finished the play with a layup to tie the game at 2-2 in the opening minutes. The Hawks got down 10-2 but Ball, Whitman and Emily Speidel were all able to contribute to get within a bucket. The Bobcats' strong defensive pressure caused early turnovers for the Hawks but Kenya Williams buried a three with 13 minutes to go, cutting the lead to one point.
 
Every time the Bobcats attempted to extend their lead, the Hawks responded. A Whitman offensive board gave Ball another two points in the paint and, again, just a one point deficit. Even an 8-1 run (29-20) by Greensburg did not deflate the Hawks who followed it with a 9-0 run of their own. Amber Hay helped swing the momentum towards Hilbert with a big block in transition and Natalie Whitman was a force on the offensive glass. The Hawks went into the half trailing 35-33.
 
Emily Speidel gave the Hawks their first lead of the evening with a 3-pointer to start the second half. Greensburg responded with a three ball of their own to regain the two-point advantage. The Hawks continued to keep up with Greensburg's runs by forcing poor shots and winning offensive rebounds.
 
Whitman made a run of her own - grabbing an offensive board off her own miss and putting it in for two, which was followed by a great feed from Ball for another Whitman layup.
 
Amber Hay tied the game at 49 with a one and one free throw. Even though she missed the second, Whitman was able to secure the ball on the miss and gave the Hawks four more shots in the possession due to the presence on the offensive glass.
 
After a 4-0 Greensburg run, Speidel calmly hit two free throws to make it a 53-51 game with 6:19 to play. Greensburg countered with a three pointer to extend their lead to five. Crans dove for an offensive rebound giving Whitman a layup. Speidel and Whitman caused a jump ball in favor of the Hawks in a scramble for an offensive board on the ensuing drive. The hustle play led to two free throws by Ball with 5:03 to go.
 
The Bobcats pulled away to a 60-55 lead with easy layups but Wyann Jackson halted their run with her step back three pointer at 2:47. A huge defensive stop, which included another Hay block, gave the Hawks the opportunity to tie it up but the Hawks missed two shots and had to foul the Bobcats to try to get another possession.

Nelson made the first but missed the second free throw making it a three-point game. Whitman had to force a three point shot with less than 7 seconds remaining but it was blocked, and Whitman was able to feed it to Kylie Reinholz - giving her an opportunity from long range. Reinholz sent the game into overtime with her three-pointer at the 2.8 mark.
 
Reinholz started the scoring in the overtime with  free throw. Greensburg went on a 5-0 run before Whitman converted a tough layup for a score of 66-64. The Bobcats forced turnovers on the next two Hawk possessions and were able to extend their lead to six. The Hawks battled but could not overcome the deficit and fell 73-65 in the overtime.

The Hawks dominated the boards all night, winning the battle 60-43. Twenty-eight of their 60 boards came on the offensive end. After shooting 50% from the floor in the first half, the Hawks were held to 19.5% in the second but were able to stay in the game with their second chances.

Hilbert (4-19, 2-14) is on the road this Wednesday to face Penn State-Behrend at 4pm.