Allegheny (10-4, 4-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) was led by Brittany Bell (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield), who hit a pair of three-point baskets, scoring 10 points overall, while Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) added eight in the losing effort.
The Allegheny squad found a lid over their basket for the early goings, as the Blue and Gold found themselves down 20-4 halfway through the first half, before scoring the next six points to cut the deficit to 10, at 20-10. Denison (13-3, 7-0 NCAC) then scored four straight, before the Gators countered with a 6-2 run to end the half trailing by 10, 26-16.
The first-half rims were unfriendly to the Gators, as the squad hit just 7-of-29 shots from the field (24.1%), and none of their nine three-point attempts.
The cold shooting continued into the second half, as the team got their first field goal with 12:30 on the clock when Wolf hit a running lay-in 7:30 into the second period, ending a 10-point Denison run that pushed the Gator deficit its largest of the game at 20. The teams traded baskets for the next three possessions, before the Blue and Gold mounted a comeback, scoring nine straight points to cut the deficit to 11 with 3:28 on the game clock.
After a lay-in by the Big Red’s Lauren Vashaw, the Gators countered with five straight points, two on a layup by Wolf and three more on a three-point basket from Becca Gasiewicz (Grove City, Pa./Kennedy Christian), cutting the deficit to eight with 2:44 to play in the game. The eight points would be as Allegheny would come, as the host Big Red ended the half on a 7-2 run, sending the Gators home with the 13-point loss.
Katie Kestler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), pictured at top, dished out a game-high five assists, while Wolf, at right fighting off Denison's Tammy Hoch for a rebound, pulled down eight boards to pace the squad.
Denison was led by Carolyn Simpson, who scored a game-high 14 points, hitting 6-of-11 field goals, while Ellen O’Brien scored 10 as Hoch pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds in the win.
The Gators look to regroup on January 17, as the team hosts the Yeowomen of Oberlin College at 7:30 p.m. at the David V. Wise Center.