The lead went back-and-forth early on, but following a LaRoche bucket at 13:18 which knotted the score at 11-11, the Blue and Gold rattled off an 11-0 run with the majority of those tallies coming via two jumpers in the paint by freshmen Emilie Simone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and a pair of three-pointers by classmate Brittany Bell (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield).
The Redhawks whittled the first-half deficit down to four following a three-pointer by Ashleigh Sawicki at 2:07, but a 9-0 Allegheny run sent the visitors down by 13 (35-22) going into the break.
At the start of the second half, the Gators maintained their pace by opening up a game-high 18-point lead at the 17-minute mark following a pair of buckets by senior Jennifer Latronica (Gibsonia, Pa./Deer Lakes). Despite trailing by double-digits for the majority of the second half, LaRoche once again clawed its way back in, turning a 12-point deficit with 3:58 to play to just six with 47 ticks left on the clock.
Following the visitors’ last bucket, Allegheny went to three of its leading contributors and the trio made the lead stick. Sophomore Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./ North Allegheny) canned a pair of free throws before Bell converted a fast-break layup with 15 seconds remaining. Latronica put the finishing touches on a career day with a pair of free throws to cap the victory.
Despite committing 19 turnovers, the hosts thoroughly dominated the action on the glass behind Latronica and Wolf. Latronica finished with a dozen boards to go with a team- and career-high 17 points and five blocked shots, while the Gator sophomore turned in a career-game with 11 points and 16 caroms. Simone picked up five boards to go with seven points in her debut.
Perimeter action played a significant role as well for the home team as Bell and senior Katie Kestler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) hit for 14 and 12 points, respectively. Bell finished with a team-best four longballs, while Kestler connected on a pair, putting her just one back of Allegheny’s all-time career mark of 120 set by Valery Medwid just last season.
Sophomore Hilary Collins (Franklin, Pa./Franklin), despite going 0-5 from the field, contributed in a big way at the point by racking up a game-high 10 assists and corralling six rebounds.
Shauna Browning led LaRoche with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Sawicki poured in 15, most of which came on four shots from deep.
The Gators will face off with the winner of Bethany College/Ohio Northern University for the tournament championship tomorrow at the David V. Wise Center at 3 p.m., while the Redhawks will get the loser at 1 p.m.