DEFIANCE, Ohio – In the opening round of the Pro Rehab-Hubbard Company Tournament, the Allegheny women's basketball team topped the century-mark in points for the first time since January 26, 1994 in a 103-100 overtime win over the host school Defiance College. The 103-point outburst matches the point total that the Gators (7-3, 1-0 NCAC) hung on conference foe Oberlin College in their most recent 100-point game prior to Friday night.
So far though the first 10 games of the year, the Gators could easily be known as "the come-back kids" after they overcame a deficit as large as 16 points early into the second half to force overtime and eventually win. Once the Yellow Jackets (2-7, 2-2 HCAC) extended their 14-point halftime lead to 16 with the initial bucket in the second half, the Gators, true to form this season, began to climb back in the game and went on a 24-to-10 run over the seven minutes of game-time to pull to within two points, 58-56 at the 12:56 mark.
Paramount to the Gators ability to close the gap in the second half was their improvement in shooting and overall rebounding. Both stat categories were dominated by the Yellow Jackets in the first half as they shot 20-of-32 (62.5%) and pulled down 22 total boards compared to the Gators' 14-of-33 (42.4%) and only 11 total rebounds. Throughout their late-game surge, the Gators flipped the script and controlled the two key stats shooting 21-of-37 (56.8%) and pulling down 11 offensive boards en route to 21 total boards in the second half.
After the Gators tied the game at 60-all, the two teams would battle back and forth with neither team holding a lead of more than four points the rest of the way out. In the second half alone, there were 13 ties and 22 lead changes. The final tie of the second half came after an exchange of free throws in the dwindling seconds of regulation. With the game tied at 88 and under a minute left, Sophomore Daryl Ford went to the line with 12 ticks left. Ford was money on her first attempt, but missed the second one leaving the game in the balance. Erica King pulled down the rebound off the Ford miss and then was fouled by Heidi Goeller with four seconds left. With a golden chance to give the Yellow Jackets a lead with two made free throws, King made good on the first one knotting the game at 89, but missed the go-ahead shot. The Yellow Jackets were able to collect the offensive board, but were unable to get off a shot in regulation sending the game to overtime. It would be the first extra basketball for both teams this season.
Similar to how the second half started, the Yellow Jackets scored the first points in the overtime period, but that would be their final lead of the game as the Gators answered back quickly with a layup by Goeller in the paint to tie the game and the go-ahead knocked down free throw coming from Goeller as well on their next possession. The Yellow Jackets would hang around to make things interesting and managed to tie the game at 100 with 30 seconds left in overtime, but a pair of clutch free throws by Britni Mohney and a make by Laura Magnelli sealed the victory for the Gators.
Five Gators scored in double figures, two of which came off the bench. Among the five, three Gators, all sophomores, set new career highs. Ford and Ann Ryan each saw limited minutes last year as true freshmen, but gained valuable playing experience in the process. Ford has started all 10 games so far and has scored at least 10 points six times including tonight's career-high 14-point showing. Ryan has been a key player in the Gators' rotation coming off the bench and had her most productive game in her young career shooting 8-of-14 (57.1%) en route her career-high of 16 points. She also pulled down a team-high nine boards with six coming off the offensive glass. Highlighting the career marks was Goeller, who led all scorers with 26 points. It is the third time that she has eclipsed the 20-point mark in a game. Like Ryan, Goeller enjoyed her most efficient shooting day knocking down 10-of-13 (76.9%) including an unconscious 7-of-8 in the second half alone. Forced to sit in the first half with early foul trouble, Goeller was on fire in the second half on her way to a19- point explosion.
The Gators topped the Yellow Jackets in all specialty categories as they controlled the paint 56-46, converted turnovers into points 30-19, put back missed shots 22-20, got out in transition 18-6, and got production from their bench players 37-28.
With the win, the Gators will play in their second tournament championship in as many chances on Saturday afternoon against Indiana Wesleyan after the Wildcats won their opening round matchup against Brecisia 70-62. Tip-off for the Gators/Wildcats championship game is set for 3:00 pm. Live stats provided by Defiance College can be followed through the following link: http://defianceathletics.com/media/2010-11/LiveStats/WomensBasketball/xlive.htm