Late Rally Falls Short for Women's Hoops

ERIE, Pa. – In an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) battle for a spot in the top three in the women's basketball standings, La Roche managed to hold off Penn State Behrend 67-63 on Friday night in a packed Junker Center.

Playing without their leading scorer in Chantelle Jennings, the Redhawks (15-4, 10-2 AMCC) had four starters in double figures to win the first of two regular-season contests against the Lions (13-5, 9-3 AMCC) and move into second place in the conference. Ariel Green went 8-for-12 from the floor for a team-high 19 points and seven boards.  

Behrend got a 25-point effort from Amy Oldach. The senior guard also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and went 8-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Holding the lead for the majoring of the first half, both teams headed into the locker room with 27 points apiece. After the break, La Roche went on a 12-3 run on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor thanks to five points from Casie Cygan and four by Amanda Garland.

It took nearly 10 minutes for the Lions to recover from the deficit. Down by eight at 54-46 with 7:45 left to play, Oldach drained two shots from the line and Aly Eagle hit two triples for a total of five on the night to get Behrend within two points.

Green sandwiched two baskets between an Oldach trey to keep a three-point lead at 60-57. Julia Myers made the steal that set up Oldach's unconventional three-point play to even the score at 60-all.

Once again, Green kept her team afloat with a good layup and Oldach responded with the same thing on the next possession to make it 62-all. Green was able to get her final layup to fall with one minute left and Amanda Garland hit two crucial free throws to force the Lions to need three points to get even again.

After a failed field-goal attempt and a turnover, Green had a chance at two from the line and made the second one with four seconds remaining for the final score, 67-63.

Eagle matched a career high for three-pointers and finished with 15 points. Holly Bourquin was also in double digits with 10 points.

Behrend returns to action on Wednesday at D'Youville. Game time is 6 p.m.