The Allegheny women’s basketball season has concluded after dropping a Presidents’ Athletic Conference quarterfinal playoff game at James H. Mullen Jr. Arena to the Geneva Golden Tornadoes 84-73.
It was a hot start for the Gators (13-13, 12-8 PAC). They jumped on the Golden Tornadoes (13-13,11-9 PAC) early, stringing together a 10-4 run in the first five minutes and change.
After a media timeout, Geneva roared back and outscored Allegheny 15-6 the rest of the quarter. They kept the momentum going in the second period. Allegheny turned the ball over 14 times in the opening 20 minutes, leading to 13 points for the Tornadoes.
By the end of the first half, the Gators were in a 16-point hole.
It was neck-and-neck coming out of the break, though Geneva held the reins until the final 10 minutes.
The Gators began the last quarter on a 15-4 run, bringing the game to within six points. It was a run that came out of nowhere.
“We could decide to pout and feel bad for ourselves because we’re down,” said head coach Kelley Muffley on what she told her team at the end of the third period. “Or we could go the opposite and really give it everything we have for the remainder of the season and see what that does.”
Allegheny’s hot streak cooled off toward the middle of the quarter. Once Geneva got their lead back to double digits, they were sent to the foul line as the Gators’ last chance to crawl back into the game.
Allegheny’s spark was too little and too late. Geneva is moving onto the semifinal round, where they will play Washington and Jefferson College in the Presidents building on Thursday.
Despite the final result, the back half of the year for the Gators was stellar. From the second week of December to the second week of February, they strung together an 11-2 record to earn themselves a home playoff game.
It was the first postseason affair hosted in the swamp since the 2015-16 season.
“Last year we took a step by making the playoffs,” Muffley said. “This year we took a step by hosting the playoffs. The moment was pretty big. For some of them, it seemed like nerves really took over, so I’m hoping that what we take from this is that we’ve been here before and we don’t come out with the nerves and it doesn’t take us until the third quarter to play basketball like we know how.”
Muffley praised the upperclassmen for sticking with her through the years. She said the current juniors and seniors have been with her through the ups and downs and helped change the culture for the better.
In her first year at the helm, Allegheny ended the season with a 6-19 record. In three seasons, the turnaround has been enormous.
Better yet, all five starters will be returning for the next campaign in hopes of building on what was created this year.
