Gators Make Late Plays To Top Wittenberg
The Allegheny Gators scored the last four points to escape with a 79-75 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory and a season sweep of the Wittenberg Tigers.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Allegheny Gators scored the last four points to escape with a 79-75 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) victory and a season sweep of the Wittenberg Tigers.
The Tigers, who rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to tie the game at 75 in the final minute, dropped to 10-11 overall and 5-5 in the NCAC. Allegheny improved to 13-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference.
After taking an early four-point lead, Wittenberg was blitzed over a four-minute period by an 18-2 margin as the Gators built a 22-10 lead. Outstanding shooting pushed the lead to 16 points at the 3:53 mark of the first half before the Tigers finally ratcheted up the defensive pressure. The lead was whittled down to six points before a clutch Allegheny three-pointer just before the buzzer by Erica Restich, which restored a nine-point halftime advantage.
The Tigers whittled away at the lead over the final 20 minutes, eventually drawing even at 73 on a three-pointer by senior Katherine Hueter (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) with 1:38 remaining. The two teams traded baskets over the next 35 seconds before the Gators drew a foul and netted a pair of free throws by Ann Ryan with 44 seconds left. The Tigers then missed a three-pointer but got the offensive rebound, but with 13 seconds left a costly turnover was committed, leading to two more Allegheny free throws, these by Saddie Gravatt.
As a team, Allegheny shot 63 percent from the field in the first half and 53 percent overall, including an outstanding 7-of-16 performance from three-point range. The Tigers countered with 49 percent shooting, but they held a signficant advantage from the free throw line, scoring 11 more points from the charity stripe on 17 more attempts. The other key team statistic was rebounding as the Tigers held a 37-27 edge, with 17 of the Tigers caroms coming at the offensive end.
Individually, Wittenberg was paced by junior Lauren Cassel (Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) with 19 points, the first of four Tigers to reach double figures on offense. Junior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) added 13 points and six rebounds, while junior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) and sophomore Kim Replogle (Houston, Ohio/Houston) both finished with 12 points. Replogle added a game-high eight rebounds, while Clark and Hueter each chipped in with seven boards. Hueter and freshman Jaclyn Willoughby (Sidney, Ohio/Houston) each finished with four assists to lead the Tigers.
Allegheny was paced by Heidi Goeller with 22 points and five rebounds, while Restich contributed 16 huge points off the bench.