HAMBURG, N.Y. – Hilbert Women's Basketball traded baskets for three quarters this afternoon when they hosted the undefeated La Roche Redhawks in the Hafner Recreation Center.
 
The Redhawks outscored Hilbert by only one basketball in the first, second and fourth quarters, but the Hawks let the third quarter get away as they fell in a 76-58 AMCC defeat.
 
Hilbert (4-17) moved to 4-10 in the league and currently sit in 8th place while La Roche (17-4) secured the No. 1 seed and the right to host the AMCC Final Four Tournament with their 14-0 record.
 

Alesia Hamm continues to move up the Women's Basketball All-Time list, at an amazing rate after less than three full seasons of competition.  Hamm, a 5'7 guard, is now ranked 13th in scoring, 11th in Rebounds, 3rd place in offensive rebounds, and 7th in assists. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS
 
Alesia Hamm notched her 17th double figure scoring effort this winter after tossing in 22 points off 9-of-15 shots from the field while leading the Hawks with four assists and six rebounds.
 
Kelsey Schlagenhauf added 11 points and collected a game-high three steals while Mackenzie Catan reached double digit scoring with 10 points after hitting a pair from downtown.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The Hawks recovered from a 4-0 deficit at the start of the game and built their first lead, 8-6 off an Avery Cusack three midway through the opening quarter.  Maria Spinelli kept the Hawks on top, hitting a short bunny in the paint but La Roche made a 7-0 run to go up 15-10 before Hilbert closed the quarter pulling within one point (15-14).
• Catan hit her first triple almost three minutes into the second period and pulled Hilbert within two (19-17).  La Roche built their hold back to a six-point lead with five minutes left (25-19), then Hamm carried the Hawks to a 29-all score tallying nine points.  A pair of empty offensive possessions led an exciting 3-point make by Belle Oakely with three seconds left on the clock with Hilbert trailing 35-32 heading into half time.
• The Hawks were still in a two-possession game at the start of the third quarter until La Roche went up by eight points and then ballooned the margin to as many as 17 points. Hamm and Schlagenhauf scored all 10 of Hilbert's points, with Hamm hitting a 3-pointer and Schlagenhauf finishing a three-point play besides their layups in the lane.
• Both teams traded scores through the final quarter.  Spinelli tossed in five points and Catan hit back-to-back baskets for five quick points, leading the Hawks with seven points that quarter.

GAME NOTES
 
Today marked the first AMCC contest this winter where Hilbert was out rebounded.  The Redhawks cleared 15 offensive rebounds which they turned into 22 second-chance points.  La Roche did a lot of their scoring off penetration to the hoop whether those points were earned off fast break scores (12) or points in the paint (52).
Hilbert finished the game with 13 assists off their 23-made baskets compared to La Roche's 14 assists off 31 buckets.
Hilbert finished the game hitting 44.2% from the floor but made only 7-of-12 at the foul line while La Roche converted 53.4% of their close to the basket scores and made nine free throws.
 
UP NEXT

Hilbert returns to action for another tough match-up this coming week when they host the second-ranked Penn State Behrend Lions (11-2) on Wednesday, February 7th at 7pm.