ALFRED, N.Y. – The Hilbert College women's basketball team suffered an 80-60 non-conference loss at Alfred State College today. Haley Witchella from A-State (6-4) proved to be too much for the Hawks to handle as she scored 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had two blocks and three steals before fouling out after 21 minutes of action.
Amber Hay led the Hilbert scoring drive with 13 points and two assists as well as crashing for five offensive boards (eight total).
Wyann Jackson pumped in 11 points, sinking 4-of-7 shots and finished with seven rebounds (four offensive).
Emily Speidel and
Shannon Rogers both netted nine points. Speidel,
Samantha Heiler and
Kelsi Ebert led the visitors with team-high two steals each and Ebert was credited with team-high three assists.
Hilbert hit 35.5% of their shots from the floor while the Pioneers finished with a flat 40% field goal percentage scoring. A-State out-scored the Hawks 52-28 in the paint as Hilbert looked for scores outside the arc, making only 2 of 17 attempts.
Alfred State dominated the glass crashing for 31 offensive boards (59 total) while Hilbert collected 37 rebounds total. Hay, Jackson and Ebert combined for 12 of Hilbert's 16 offensive rebounds.
At 11:03 in the first half, Alfred State built a ten-point cushion (15-5), but the Hawks fought back and cut the difference to two points on several occasions.
Kelsi Ebert's pair of free throws at 6:37 brought the Hawks as close as they were going to get before the break (23-21). Hilbert went cold and found themselves down 36-28 by the half time horn.
Twenty-seconds after A-State scored the opening bucket in the second half,
Emily Speidel sank a jumper to cut the score back to single digits. The Pioneers went on a 10-2 run and began to create separation which the Hawks did not respond to quick enough.
Wyann Jackson's jumper started a 5-0 Hilbert mini-run which ended with a traditional three-point play by
Amber Hay which cut the score to 69-56 at 4:35. Hilbert went cold again from the floor hitting only one basket and two free throws to close out the game.
The Hawks (0-11, 0-7) return home this weekend for another AMCC contest against Pitt-Greensburg beginning at 2pm. Hilbert then hosts Penn State Behrend Monday, January 19 (6pm) before they resume classes January 20.
