The Penn State Behrend women's basketball team won their third straight conference game on Saturday, February 13 by defeating the La Roche Redhawks by a final score of 58 to 57 in a game that came down to two free throws with no time on the clock.
The first half saw a quick spurt by the Behernd Lions to begin as Taylor Lotis (Jefferson Hills/Thomas Jefferson) made two layups and Kelly Nowacinski (Erie/Mercyhurst Prep) added another to put the Behrend Lions ahead 6-2 with just over one minute being played in the first half. The Redhawks would claw their way back into the game and got to within one with just over ten minutes to play in the half. La Roche got their first lead of the ballgame at the 5:37 mark at 21-20 but the lead would not last long as Nowacinski would nail a three pointer to put the blue and white back up by two. Amy Oldach (Erie/Villa Maria) would add two more three point feild goals late in the half and Aly Eagle (Harmony/Seneca Valley) would finish the scoring with another three pointer with only 16 second left to play in the half and the Behrend Lions went to the locker room up 32-25. Lotis, Oldach, and Eagle would each have six points apiece. The Redhawks were paced by Chloe' Stewarts' eight points and Chantelle Jennings' six.
Out of the locker room both teams knew how tough this victory was going to be and knew that they had to play to the final seconds to win. The Redhawks inched their way back into the game and at the 14:30 mark, La Roche found themselves only down by five. Two made free throws by Oldach would increase Behrend's lead to seven with just over 13 minutes to play in the game. That is when the blue and white began to struggle to find the hoop and seemingly went on a scoring drought lasting almost five minutes. La Roche built a six point lead with seven minutes to play in the game, but the blue and white were determined to charge their way back into the contest. The lead changed hands a few times late in the contest and Behrend saw themselves down by only one with one minute to go. The freshman Lotis would show ice water in her veins as she got fouled and was sent to the line for two shots. She nailed them both with no issue and put her team up by one with 18 seconds to play. After a couple of timeouts, the Redhawks drew up a perfect backdoor cut off the inbounds play and Jennings would draw a foul and be sent to the line for two shots with the clock showing all zeros. Jennings was long on her first shot and drew the front iron on her second as neither found the net. The Behrend Lions would prevail 58-57. Oldach led the team with 15 points and six boards as Lotis chipped in with 11 points. La Roche was paced by Jennings with 19 points and Stewart with 17.
With the win, the Behrend Lions improve to 12-9 overall and 10-7 in the AMCC. La Roche drops their record to 12-11 overall and 10-8 in the conference. Behrend has three conference games remaining before the AMCC Tournament begins. The blue and white will host D'Youville on February 15 and Hilbert on February 17 before they take to the road at Penn State Altoona on February 20 for the final game of the regular season. The AMCC tournament is set to begin on February 23.
