HOUGHTON, N.Y. — Houghton scored 14 of the game’s final 16 points Tuesday night to defeat the Pitt-Bradford women’s basketball team 70-59.
The Panthers went ahead 57-56 with 3:26 remaining on Ali Rinfrette’s ninth basket of the game. During the ensuing play, Houghton’s Cori Beck drilled the go-ahead three-pointer, the 11th lead change of the game. Elle Reed followed with a three of her own on the next Highlander possession, and Emily Swanson’s layup with 2:20 left stretched the advantage to 64-57.
Rinfrette’s bucket trimmed deficit to five, but Reed countered with another triple to stretch the margin to 67-59. Reed added a three-point play for good measure in the game’s final seconds to account for the final score.
The first half featured seven different lead changes. Pitt-Bradford led 15-5 in the first quarter before Houghton used a 16-2 spurt to go ahead 21-17. A back-and-forth second quarter produced a 35-31 Highlander halftime lead.
The Panthers led by as much as six in the second half before fading down the stretch. Rinfrette’s three-pointer with one minute remaining in the third quarter gave the visitors a 49-43 lead. Two Houghton free throws and a last-second three narrowed the lead to one entering the final frame.
After surrendering 10 made three-pointers in Saturday’s loss to Fredonia, Pitt-Bradford yielded 13 to Houghton. In the team’s first two games, the Panthers allowed just six total made threes.
Pitt-Bradford shot 32 percent from the field compared to 46 percent for Houghton, and the Panthers attempted just four free throws. The Highlanders outrebounded the Blue and Gold 48-34, and despite forcing 25 turnovers, the Panthers netted just 15 points off the miscues.
Rinfrette logged a game-high 24 points, Darien Lantz added 11, and Brittany Watts totaled 10. Kaserra Owens and Watts each had seven boards apiece, and Rinfrette collected four steals.
Pitt-Bradford drops to 1-3 on the season and has a quick turnaround as it travels to Hilbert tonight for the start of AMCC play.
PITT-BRADFORD (59)
Rinfrette 10-1-2-24, Lantz 4-0-0-11, Watts 4-2-2-10, Colebert 3-0-0-8, Owens 2-0-0-4, Maciag 1-0-0-2, Guengerich 0-0-0-0, Stringer 0-0-0-0, Ragin 0-0-0-0, Collins 0-0-0-0. Totals 24-3-4-59.
HOUGHTON (70)
Reed 7-3-3-21, Moose 5-4-7-16, Manawaring 5-0-0-11, Lenart 3-0-0-9, Beck 2-0-0-6, Pascoe 1-0-0-3, Swanson 1-0-0-2, Detwiler 1-0-0-2. Totals 25-7-10-70.
Halftime: Houghton 35-31
Three-point FGs: Pitt-Bradford – Lantz 3, Rinfrette 3, Colebert 2; Houghton – Reed 4, Lenart 3, Beck 2, Moose 2, Manwaring 1, Pascoe 1.
