PITTSBURGH, PA – La Roche survived a wild fourth quarter to hold on and beat Medaille 69-64 on Saturday afternoon. The Redhawks improve to 10-11 overall, 8-6 in conference, and now sit in a three-way tie for third place in the AMCC Conference.
La Roche used a 9-0 first quarter run to stretch a one point lead to 16-6. The Redhawks' were able to force turnovers in the open court and were extremely efficient on offense.
Medaille cut into the deficit, making it an 18-13 spread by the first intermission.
The Mavericks opened the second quarter with six straight points and a 19-18 lead. La Roche recovered and a Darrian Johnson three-pointer swung momentum in favor of the home team.
Jazmyne Boyd gave the Redhawks their largest lead with a 33-25 game with 2:08 left. Medaille cut it down to five by halftime and the teams entered the locker room at 35-30.
Seven different Redhawks scored first half points including Jenna Cole who had 12 points. La Roche shot 46% and hit 3 of 6 three-pointers. Medaille held an eight rebound edge on the boards. Despite the rebounding margin, Cole and Stephanie Thomas nearly registered double-digit rebounds in the first half.
The entire third quarter stayed between a four point and seven point Redhawk lead. La Roche and the Mavericks alternated baskets on every possession of the quarter. The Mavericks' Morgan Kennedy hit a layup at the buzzer as La Roche entered the fourth quarter with a 50-45 lead.
The Redhawks struggled shooting in the fourth quarter and were held to just one field goal over the first five minutes. La Roche was excellent defensively as the game remained close throughout the home stretch.
A wild final 30 seconds of regulation ended with the visitors having a chance to tie it up at the free throw line, Nia Thomas jumped in front on Medaille's inbound pass to secure a needed victory for the Redhawks 69-64.
Cole registered her second straight double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson had a team-high 19 points and Stephanie Thomas pulled down 9 rebounds.
The difference came on the boards where La Roche held a 42-40 edge. Medaille came into the game with a conference-best 5.5 rebounding edge, but the Redhawks dominated the defensive glass.
The Redhawks will travel to Penn State Behrend on Wednesday for an important conference game. La Roche hung on for a 62-60 victory over Behrend earlier this year.