Edinboro, Pa. – The Edinboro women's basketball fell behind early, but the Scots outscored visiting West Liberty 48-30 in the second half on their way to a 77-61 victory over the Hilltoppers Saturday evening inside McComb Fieldhouse.
West Liberty held a 31-29 at the break and pushed the lead to 35-31 on a Jenna Riccardo layup at the 7:22 mark of the third.
Morgan Gentile hit back-to-back 3-pointers around an Anna Lucarelli bucket to tie the game 37-37.
The Hilltoppers used an 11-6 run to retake the lead 48-43 with 3:19 left in the third. Three points from
Gillian Fisher and a Gentile bucket tied the game with 1:36 left in the quarter. Luccarelli gave West Liberty the lead back with a trey at the 1:31 mark, but an
Ashten Boggs layup and a
Maura Suman fastbreak score put the Scots up 52-51 after three.
Edinboro seized on the momentum from the end of the third and scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter capped by a
Hayley Sims bucket with 8:04 remaining to make it 60-51. The Hilltoppers got within six 62-56 on a Bailee Smith 3-pointer, but a 10-2 spurt keyed by six points from Boggs made it 72-58 with just 3:46 left. The Scot led never fell below 12 the rest of the way.
The teams came out even early with the score tied 8-8 after a Sims jumper at the 4:37 mark. West Liberty closed out the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 19-8 lead after the first.
In the second, West Liberty extended the lead to 25-12 with 4:48 remaining in the half after a Smith layup.
Gabby McDuffie came up big for the Scots in the second quarter scoring nine of her 14 points in a 17-6 run to cut the halftime deficit to 31-29.
Four Scots reached double figures in scoring led by 20 points from Gentile. She also pulled down seven boards and dished out four helpers. Sims netted 19 points, eight boards an assist and a steal. McDuffie turned in 14 points, seven boards, two assists, one block and one steal. Boggs also finished in double digits with 12 points and five rebounds.
Smith led the Hilltopper offense with 16 points. Lucarelli was the only other West Liberty player to score in double figures with 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
The Scots return to action on Wednesday with a trip to Charleston, W.Va. Game time is slated for noon.
