University Heights, OH – Alma College Women's Basketball opened their season on the road at the Winking Lizard Tip-Off Tournament. Alma took on Penn State-Behrend in opening round action, and came out victorious by a final of 69-60.
It was a complete game effort from Alma, who never trailed, and never let the score come even aside from 0-0.
The Scots jumped out to an 18-10 advantage in the opening quarter, thanks to 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc, as well as some staunch defense, with Alma holding PSU to 3-15 from the floor in the opening frame. Alma raced out to a 9-2 advantage, with a Behrend timeout not helping to slow down the Scots. They pushed out the lead to 18-6, and held the opposition at length to close the quarter, up 18-10.
The second quarter was a game of runs as defenses settled in, and points became hard to come by. The teams traded 4 point runs to start the quarter. As the clock wound down, the Alma and PSU started to trade blows, going basket for basket until the halftime buzzer. The Scots headed into the half with a 7 point lead intact at 28-21.
The second half saw a change of pace, as the game sped up offensively. After combining for 21 total points in the second quarter, the teams combined to score 21 points in just the first 5 minutes of the third. As was the tale of the game, the teams continued to trade runs and a pattern developed. PSU would string together several baskets to come with 5 points, and the Scots would respond with a small run of their own to keep the opposition at arms length.
Finally, Alma used a short burst at the open of the 4
th quarter to push the lead to 11, which would be enough for the Scots to see out the game, and come away with their first win of the 2023-24 season, 69-60.
Olivia Warren (13 points, 4 Assists, 1 Rebound)
Taylor Sas (12 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Steals) and
Brooke LeRoux (8 Points, 6 Rebounds) led the way for a Scots team that had 9 different scorers in the win.
Alma starts at 1-0, and awaits the winner of host John Carroll and Asbury tomorrow.
