MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny women's basketball team took to the court for the first time in 20 days Tuesday night, when they hosted non-conference foe Carnegie Mellon. Both teams would start the game with a bit of rust, as the Tartans also had a 20-plus day break. However, the Carnegie Mellon would bust out of their rut early in the second half, and defeat the Gators 61-54.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the first half, as both teams struggled to find a rhythm. Sophomore guard Erica Restich would spark Allegheny early with a pair of three's to give the Gators an early 7-2 lead; however, from there baskets were difficult to come by. Despite shooting just 20 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, Allegheny found itself down by just one going into halftime.
The Tartans would climb out of their funk early in the second frame, going on a quick 10-0 run to extend the lead to 11. However, Allegheny would start to find a rhythm of their own, and slowly climbed back within striking distance. The Gators really started to put the pressure on the Tartans with just over 1:00 to go when Restich knocked down a jumper to pull Allegheny within four with just 1:02 on the clock.
After three Carnegie Mellon free throws, freshman Kendall Hoffman would once again cut the lead to four on a three pointer with just :22 remaining. Unfortunately, the Gators would not be able to come back as they have so many times this season, as the Tartans would hit their free throws late handing Allegheny just its fourth loss of the season.
Junior Daryl Ford would have an incredible game for the Gators, pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds, to go along with 13 points on three-of-six shooting for her third double-double of the season. Fellow junior Heidi Goeller joined Ford in the double-double club, netting 16 points and grabbing 11 boards for her fifth of the season.
Freshman Marina Scarantino chipped in with nine points off the bench on three-of-four shooting, as Allegheny dropped to 8-4 on the season. The Gators will be back at it on Friday, January 6 when they will host nationally ranked DePauw University at 6:00 pm.