HAMBURG, NY – The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg women's basketball broke open a close game in the third quarter and rolled to a 64-44 victory this afternoon on the road at Hilbert College.
The Bobcats complete the regular season sweep of Hilbert and improve to 12-3 and 7-1 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Hawks saw a four-game win streak get snapped and fall to 5-13 overall and 4-5 in the AMCC.
Sidney McCully led the scoring attack for the second consecutive game, going 7-of-10 from the field for 16 points. Nadege Durand scored 15 points, pulled seven rebounds, and dished out a game-high five assists. Melina Maietta rounded out the Bobcat double-digit scorers with 15 points, including a 13-point second half from the freshman guard.
Pitt-Greensburg jumped ahead early, scoring the first eight points of the game. Hilbert fought back to quickly narrow that margin and make it a back-and-forth game for the majority of the first half. The Hawks got their lead up to five with two and a half minutes to play in the first half, but the Bobcats rattled off seven straight points to end the half and take a two-point lead into the locker-room. Abigail Benally drained a three-pointer in the Bobcats final possession of the half to give them their lead.
Hilbert scored the first three points of the second half to regain the lead, but that would end up being their last. Durand was the first to find the bottom of the net in the second half for the Bobcats, as they were held scoreless for three-plus minutes to begin the third quarter. After Durand took the lid off the basket, the Bobcats went off on a 13-1 run and gained their first double-digit lead of the game, 40-29 at the 1:28 mark in the third.
The Bobcats never let up in the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to as high as 23, 62-39, off a Keira Coleman jumper with 2:50 to play. Pitt-Greensburg shot 42% in the second half, while holding Hilbert to 22%.
Shaquoia McCray pulled down eight rebounds and extended four Bobcat possessions with offensive boards. The Bobcats had a +11 margin on the glass, the seventh time this season the Blue and Gold has had a double-digit positive margin.
The Pitt-Greensburg bench contributed 14 points, across five different non-starting scorers.
The Bobcats will return to Chambers Hall on Wednesday to take on La Roche. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 pm. Pitt-Greensburg won the first meeting 68-60 on January 10.
Fans can follow the Bobcats all season long online at PittGreensburgAthletics.com, as well as on Twitter (@upgbobcats), Instagram (@UPG_athletics), and Facebook (@UPGbobcats).
