HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Pitt-Bradford women's basketball team defeated the Houghton Highlanders 52-49 on the heels of a strong night shooting by three of its players.
Freshman Ali Renfrette, sophomore Kaserra Owens and senior Alicia Kimmel each finished in double figures. Renfrette, who's off to a great start in her freshman campaign, tallied a total of 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Owens wrapped up her evening with 13 points, eight rebounds and one assist, while Kimmel registered 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Pitt-Bradford (2-2) evened its overall record in this young 2014-15 season with the win. The Panthers were in a dog fight in the early goings of the contest. The Highlanders led by as many as five points with six minutes remaining until halftime. Pitt-Bradford worked its way to a brief lead before heading to the locker room tied with the Highlanders, 20-20.
For the first half, Pitt-Bradford was 31.3 percent from the field. The Panthers did not connect from the charity stripe on four attempts.
Owens drained a layup on the first shot attempt of the second half to open the scoring. This time however, the Panthers refused to surrender the lead for the first seven minutes. Houghton managed to tie the game at 34 before a jumper by Kimmel pushed Pitt-Bradford back out front.
Houghton regained the lead 43-41 with 6:36 left to play, but a strong push by the Panthers in the final minutes sealed the deal. Freshman Brooke Osborne went to the line and made the final basket of the game on her first attempt to bring the score to its final tally.
"Tonight we really had to fight hard to win this game," said head coach Patrick Daniel. "Our shots were not falling, but we stayed strong defensively and we got a much needed win going into the break. A win is a win and we will take it."
Pitt-Bradford finished its night shooting 32.8 percent from the floor for the game. The Panthers connected on two shots from behind the arc and were 8-of-16 from the line.
Pitt-Bradford returns to the floor in time to open conference play at Franciscan on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 1 p.m.