PITTSBURGH – The Pitt-Bradford women's basketball team carried a one-point lead into halftime, but it wasn't enough as the La Roche Redhawks stole the victory 80-67 in the semi-final game of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament.
Junior Alicia Kimmel led all Panthers in scoring with 22 points, eight rebounds and one assist. Freshman Kaserra Owens had a season and career-high 18 points, five rebounds and two assists. Senior Geena Sneeringer, playing in what would be her last game as a Panther, tacked on 11 points, one rebound and one assist.
Pitt-Bradford (15-12, 10-8) found its way on the scoreboard less than a minute into the action when Sneeringer laid one in off the glass to get the scoring started.
The Redhawks quickly strung together several points in a row to open a small lead. That lead was short lived however, as Kimmel found the net to add four points in two quick possessions for the Panthers.
Over the next several minutes, the Redhawks hung on to a small lead, adding a bucket for each one of the Panthers' successful attempts. With nine minutes remaining in the first half, Pitt-Bradford knotted the score, 15-15, with Owens layup.
It was Owens jumper in the paint three minutes later that gave the Panthers their first lead of the contest. The two squads played chess, up and down the court, for the remainder of the first period. Sneering found the net on another layup with less than 30 seconds to play that sent the Panthers to the locker room with the lead, 29-28.
Pitt-Bradford finished the first half shooting a solid 56.5 percent from the floor and did not attempt a shot from three. The Panthers were three of four from the line.
The Redhawks shot 46.2 percent from the field and were just 20 percent from three. They were three of five from the charity stripe.
La Roche (22-4, 16-2) took the lead seconds into the second period after a foul from Brittany Watts sent Casie Cygan to the line where she connected on both shots.
Seconds later, Pitt-Bradford snagged the lead again on another jump shot from Owens, this one in the paint. Another possession, another basket and the Redhawks had retaken the lead over the Panthers.
At that point, La Roche opened the scoring gap, leaving the Panthers in a deficit that grew as much as 11 points in a matter of a few minutes. Moments later the deficit grew to 14 as the Redhawks began creating scoring opportunities in a hurry.
Pitt-Bradford made a run at the Redhawks' lead with less than a minute to play, cutting the deficit to seven points with 40 ticks on the clock. La Roche was solid from the line and was able to seal the victory as the clock expired.
"I am so proud of what we accomplished this year by playing in the semi-finals," said head coach Patrick Daniel. "Special thank you to our senior Geena Sneeringer for all that she has done for our program. Every game, including tonight, she gave everything she had. If we can have players like Geena, this program is headed in the right direction."
The Panthers finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from three. They were 13 of 17 from the line.
For the night, La Roche shot 48.2 percent, including 33.3 percent from behind the arc. The Redhawks were 22 of 31 from the line.
Pitt-Bradford wrapped up its season with the defeat on Friday night. The Panthers enter the offseason before returning to the court in November to prepare for the 2014-15 campaign.