Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team was back in home action on Tuesday evening, as they hosted Alfred University in a non-conference tilt. The Panthers started slow and ultimately lost to the Saxons 41-79.
The Saxons jumped on top with a pair of layups on their first two possessions, while the Panthers got on the scoreboard early with a pair of free throws by Amber Murak. The Saxons locked down after the free throws, keeping the Panthers off the board for the next six minutes, while building a 20-2 edge. Abigail Goss finally got the Panthers back on the board, making a hook shot with 2:16 left in the quarter. Dalayla Alexander added a pair of free throws in the final minute, sending the game to the second period with Pitt-Bradford trailing by 18.
In the second quarter, Alexander answered an Alfred putback layup with a midrange jumper, and then a few possessions later, matched a three with a stepback long ball of her own. After she made another jumpshot to put the Panthers down 17, Pitt-Bradford hit another cold spell for over two minutes, which resulted in 20 unanswered Alfred points. Goss and Alexander each made short jumpers in the last minute to put the Panthers down 40-17 at the break.
Alfred started the 2nd half with 6 straight points until Stacy Sequeira made a three from the wing to get the Panthers back on the scoreboard. It started a 9-3 rally for the Panthers, as Alexander made two from the line and Murak and Goss made back-to-back layups. Unfortunately, the Panthers were not able to continue the run and were limited to free throws by Zennette Zigler and Ella Gettings over the last 5 minutes of the period.
Trailing 60-28 in the fourth, Murak found her rhythm, starting with a steal and a fast break layup to begin the period. Alfred scored 12 of the next 14 points in the game until Murak scored 7 points on three straight possessions. She started with a pair of driving layups and then sank a three to cut the lead to 33. Goss added a late layup for the Panthers, but Alfred scored twice in the final minute to finish the game ahead 79-41.
Dalayla Alexander and Amber Murak each scored 13 points and tallied 3 steals in the loss. Alexander also grabbed 6 rebounds. Abigail Goss added 8 points on 4-7 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds. Ella Gettings led the Panthers with 9 rebounds.
The Panthers fall to 0-5 with the loss. They will be back in action after the holiday break, as they begin AMCC play with a matchup against Hilbert. Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3rd.
