Behrend Falls 75-65 to the Allegheny Gators in Junker Center

In a match-up that has not taken place in more than seven years, the Behrend Lions and Allegheny battled in front of 148 fans in the Junker Center on Monday night with the Gators pulling out the 75-65 win.

Behrend sprinted to a 10-4 lead at the 16:01 mark of the first half after Amy Oldach's (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) lay-in. The Gators then tied the game at 14-14 with 11:26 remaining behind a lay-up by Shannon Culbreath before Allegheny stretched the lead to 13 points entering the half.

In the first half, both teams created a pressurized environment with a swirling defense that created numerous turnovers, yet Allegheny took a 38-25 lead into halftime.

Natalie Engel (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) led the blue and white with a dozen points, including six-of-seven at the line, and Rachel Richardson (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) chipped in six. The Gators shot 42% from the floor while holding Behrend to 27% from the field.

The second half opened with Behrend rallying for a 16-2 spurt to cut the Allegheny lead to one point, 42-41, at the 14:07 mark. The blue and white kept it a one point game until 10:19 remained on the clock. Then Allegheny made a 12-2 run to open the contest up and create a 61-48 gap with 5:30 to play. 

The top scorer for Behrend was Engel with 20 points, and Richardson added 10 points and five boards. Allegheny's Lauren Donahoe led the Gators with a double-double after registering 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Behrend forced 36 Allegheny turnovers, but the Gators connected on 15 of 22 from the line and managed to make 42% (29 of 70) from the floor.

The blue and white will hit the road for a Wednesday night AMCC contest at Hilbert (0-7, 0-2) in Hamburg, NY, at 6:00 p.m. Last year, Behrend swept the pair of meetings with the Hawks. The Behrend Lions will then return home for another league date against Pitt-Greensburg (6-1, 2-0) on Saturday, December 13, at 1:00 p.m.