ELMIRA, N.Y. — Penn College women's basketball opened its season with a 72-56 nonconference victory at Elmira on Wednesday evening. The Wildcats scored 24 points off 22 Elmira turnovers and finished with a 48-18 advantage in points in the paint. The Wildcats are 1-0 overall. Elmira dropped to 0-3 overall.
How it happened: PCT broke a 15-15 tie late in the first quarter with eight straight points, getting baskets from
Kayla Herzer,
Gigi Parlante and
Breana Valentine to close the quarter. The Wildcats scored 18 points in the paint and turned five Elmira turnovers into 10 points to lead 23-15 after the first quarter.
After
Breana Valentine's opening layup at 9:44 in the second quarter, the Wildcats and Soaring Eagles went through a scoreless drought until back-to-back Elmira layups and a Valentine layup at 4:32 gave the Wildcats a 27-22 lead. Penn College picked up the pace with baskets from
RaeAnna Andreas,
Vivian Draper and Parlante to rebuild its lead. Andreas added a jumper with 22 seconds left, to send the Wildcats into halftime ahead 36-29.
PCT matched Elmira 18-18 in the third quarter, using 12 points in the paint and a 9-6 rebounding edge to protect its advantage. Valentine scored five Wildcats points during the middle of the quarter, and
Kayla Herzer's tip-in later pushed the score to 54-42. Elmira closed with the final five points, but the Wildcats entered the fourth quarter ahead 54-47.
The Wildcats put away the game in the fourth quarter by going 10-for-12 at the free-throw line, and holding Elmira to nine points. Andreas, Herzer, Valentine,
Madi Casselbury and Parlante all scored in the quarter as PCT finished off the 72-56 win.
Inside the box: Parlante scored a team-high 20 points and collected nine rebounds while adding three steals. Valentine finished with 19 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Andreas added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Herzer scored 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Casselbury and Draper netted their first career points as Casselbury finished with six points and Draper had two.
Lauren Miller scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers to lead Elmira's offense. Emma Ryan finished with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Up next: Penn College visits Keuka College on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m.
