Second half struggles doom Panthers at Houghton

Houghton, N.Y. — The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women’s basketball team was back on the road Friday evening, as they traveled to Houghton for a non-conference matchup against the Highlanders. The Panthers stayed with the hosts early, trailing by four points at halftime, but struggled after the break, ultimately losing the game 89-49.

The Panthers fell behind from the tip, as the hosts made a pair of threes to go ahead 6-0. Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh got Pitt-Bradford started, hitting a three off a pass from Avery Benzel. Paige Gratto made a layup and then answered a three with a second basket inside, putting the Panthers behind 9-7. Unfortunately, her layup was followed by a 5-minute scoreless run that saw the Highlanders push their advantage to 17 points. Alexa Ackerman broke the dry spell with a three to send the game to the 2nd quarter with Pitt-Bradford trailing 24-10.

Gratto started the second quarter with a 5-0 run, beginning a Panther comeback that would see them trim the deficit down to two. Trailing 30-18, Gratto and Amber Murak both hit threes to cut the lead to six. Following a Houghton layup, Murak made another three and then Ackerman converted a layup of her own to put the Panthers down 32-29. Abu-Aiadeh hit a three in the last minute, but Houghton beat the buzzer with a putback to end the half with the Highlanders leading 36-32.

After the break, the Panthers struggled to regain momentum, and the Highlanders scored the first 6 points of the half to restore their double-digit lead. Gratto drove to the basket to put the Panthers on the board in the second half, but Pitt-Bradford once again went cold, allowing the hosts to go on a 14-0 run. The Panthers made four late free throws and Ackerman made a three in the final seconds to end the third quarter trailing 59-44.

In the fourth, Pitt-Bradford struggled to keep up with the Highlanders and was unable to score from the field as they were outscored 30-5 in the period with the only field goal coming on a Benzel layup.

Paige Gratto and Alexa Ackerman both scored 15 points in the loss. Gratto made 6-of-11 from the field, including 2-5 from three. Ackerman was 5-15 and also finished with three assists. Yasmine Abu-Aiadeh added eight points and led the Panthers with four steals. Katie Woolson grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds. 

The loss drops the Panthers to 0-4 to begin the season. They will be back in action on Monday afternoon when they host Penn State-DuBois. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m.