PITTSBURGH, PA – The La Roche women's basketball team improved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in conference after cruising to a 79-66 home win over Medaille. The Redhawks are the last undefeated team in the AMCC.
The Redhawks opened slowly and trailed 22-17 after the first quarter. Medaille took advantage of some early fouls and hit 10 of 11 free throws. La Roche rebounded in the second quarter outscoring the Mavericks 17-9 and they headed into halftime with a slim 34-31 lead.
Neither team was particularly strong from the field with the Redhawks hitting 13 of 38 shots and Medaille 10 of 28. Medaille turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 15 times in the first half and La Roche 10 times. TiChina Mitchell led all scorers with 14 first half points.
La Roche opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take control of the game. Darrian Johnson drained a three to put the Redhawks up six and Danasha Harris turned the next two possessions into points off turnovers.
Medaille hung around and got back within six but La Roche ended the quarter on a 9-0 run to go up 63-43. The Mavericks outscored La Roche by six in the fourth quarter but the game had already been decided.
Mitchell was terrific in the La Roche victory. She registered a double-double with 33 points and hit 13 of 23 shots. McLin scored 17 points to move into second on the school's all-time points list. Harris was all over the court with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Johnson had a game-high 8 assists.
The Redhawks shot 46% (33 of 71) to Medaille's 40% (19 of 48). They forced 25 Medaille turnovers and turned those turnovers into 30 points.
La Roche will travel to St. Vincent on Monday night for a non-conference game. The game has been moved up to 6pm.