Isenberg has monster game, but Pitt-Bradford’s season ends in thriller
HAMBURG, N.Y. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women’s basketball team toughed out a double-overtime battle with No. 2 Mount Aloysius in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Semifinals Saturday but saw its playoff run cut short, 103-93.
In the closing seconds of the first overtime period, Jennifer Isenberg knocked down a three-pointer from the wing to tie the game and help the Panthers take the second-seeded Mounties to the second OT.
Isenberg, a junior from Sheffield, scored 27 points and pulled in 17 rebounds for a double-double.
Ali Rinfrette dropped 34 points and also recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Rinfrette was unconscious from long range, hitting seven of nine three-point attempts.
Pitt-Bradford ends its season with a 15-11 overall record after claiming an 11-7 record against AMCC teams during the regular season.
The Panthers stormed out to a strong first quarter.
With the score tied 7-7, the Panthers went on a 13-4 run to help Pitt-Bradford hold a 20-13 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Panthers kept rolling into the second, starting the period on a 9-0 run started by four points from Shaelyn Snipes then continued with a layup and a three-ball from Isenberg.
Isenberg led all scorers with 15 points in the first half and Rinfrette dropped 11 on 3-4 shooting on three-point field goals.
The two teams traded buckets early in the third until an 8-0 Mountie run tied the score at 50-50.
Rinfrette ended the run with a three-pointer and a layup. A bucket from Isenberg later brought the score to 57-51 in favor of the Panthers.
Rinfrette then took over the scoring for the Panthers the rest of the period, scoring the last eight points for Pitt-Bradford capped by back-to-back three-pointers to help lift the Panthers to a 65-60 lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter began with runs from each team, first a 9-0 run from the Mounties answered by a 10-0 run from Pitt-Bradford to bring the score to 75-69 in favor of the Panthers. With a minute to go, the Panthers held a 78-73 lead after a made free throw by Rinfrette.
A layup from the Mounties brought the score to 78-75 with 33 seconds left in regulation, and Mount Aloysius later capitalized on a Pitt-Bradford turnover with a three-pointer to tie the game with 20 seconds left.
On the final possession, Isenberg saw a clean look on a baseline jumper but the ball rimmed out and the two teams went into overtime.
Down 82-81 with 1:06 left in overtime, Wells knocked down a three-pointer from the wing to put the Panthers back on top, 84-82.
A three-pointer from the Mounties with 28 seconds left put them back ahead, but Isenberg once again saw a clean look on a clutch shot and this time delivered, hitting a three-pointer with three ticks left on the clock.
Anna Colebert blocked the Mounties’ last attempt as time expired to send the game into a second overtime.
But the second overtime period was all Mounties, as they outscored the Panthers, 16-6, to advance to the conference finals.
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