By the time Kaserra Owens’ free throw rattled in with 13:48 left in the second half, the tide of Pitt-Bradford’s contest with La Roche had already turned.
Owens’ free throw marked the first point of the second half for the Panthers, as they saw a four-point halftime lead turn into a six-point deficit as part of a collective 24-7 run that sparked the Redhawks’ 71-63 win in a battle of the top two teams in the AMCC.
The loss snapped the Panthers’ five-game winning streak.
“If we want to be a championship-type basketball team, we have to play for 40 minutes,” said Pitt-Bradford coach Patrick Daniel. “We didn’t rebound the ball and we turned it over 19 times. That’s why we lost this game.”
Rebounding, as Daniel alluded to, was a major issue, as La Roche (11-4 overall, 8-0 AMCC) outrebounded UPB (9-5, 6-2) 40-29, with half of those coming on the offensive end.
That was key for the Redhawks, as it helped them offset 23 turnovers of their own.
“They were killing us on the boards, especially on the offensive end,” noted Daniel. “We got away with it in the first half in terms of they weren’t converting. They shot 37 percent in the first half and 54 percent in the second half. It was definitely a tale of two halves.”
Conversely, Pitt-Bradford shot 61 percent in the first half and just 32 percent in the second half.
Alicia Kimmel scored 11 first half points as the Panthers built their four-point cushion, but it was short-lived.
Sabrina McLin, who came in averaging just over 17 points per game and finished with a team-high 21, drilled consecutive three-pointers 40 seconds apart that gave La Roche a 14-point lead.
McLin was one of four La Roche players in double figures.
The lead swelled to as many as 18, 64-46, before the Panthers made a run to cut it to 10, 66-56 on a steal and layup by Abby Brate with 3:15 to go. They wouldn’t get any closer, however.
“All the credit to La Roche. They executed in the second half and did the things they needed to do to win the game,” Daniel said. “We know we’re a better basketball team than what we showed tonight. They understand we let one get away today because we didn’t do what we needed to do.”
UPB had trouble with La Roche’s quickness right from the get go, committing turnovers on their first two possessions of the game, allowing La Roche to jump out to a 9-4 advantage.
The Panthers battled back, taking their first lead of the game, 24-21 after a three-point play by Kimmel and took the four-point lead into halftime after Brate’s layup, which came after a bucket by Owens.
Brittany Watts came off the bench to score eight points and grab five boards, while Kimmel scored a team-high 21, but Daniel knows the collective execution of his team has to be better.
“This is a learning opportunity for us,” he said. “It’s still a long season and we’re still exactly where we were before the game started (2nd place in AMCC). We told them that this is not the be all catch all. It’s our first loss at home, but we get right back at it on Monday.”
Monday, the Panthers host Medaille, which is 5-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
“When you lose, you want to go right back at it and correct your mistakes and we have a chance to do that on Monday,” Daniel said. “We talk about being a focus, disciplined basketball team. The things we do, the things we preach in practice every day, that’s what our program is about and it doesn’t change.”
La ROCHE (71)
White 5-9 2-4 14, O’Donnell 7-10 2-4 16, Harris 2-3 1-2 5, Brothers 5-17 0-0 10, McLin 8-16 2-3 21, Schifino 0-2 0-0 0, Coleman 2-5 1-1 5, Totals 29-62 8-14 71
PITT-BRADFORD (63)
Brate 3-7 3-4 9, Rinfrette 2-9 4-4 8, Owens 3-8 2-4 9, Kimmell 8-14 5-7 21, B. Osborne 3-6 0-2 6, Watts 4-7 0-0 8, A. Osborne 1-3 0-0 2, Lantz 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 24-54 14-21 63
Halftime: Pitt-Bradford 32-28
Three-point FGs — La Roche 5 (McLin 3, White 2), Pitt-Bradford 1 (Owens). Fouled Out — None. Rebounds — La Roche 40 (Brothers 10), Pitt-Bradford 29 (B. Osborne 7). Assists — La Roche 13 (White 6), Pitt-Bradford 17 (Rinfrette 5). Total Fouls — La Roche 20, Pitt-Bradford 13
