Box Score

Meadville, PA - The Oberlin College women's basketball team trailed by just three points at the half, but the home Gators of Allegheny pulled away in the second session to defeat the Yeowomen 77-65 on Wednesday night.

First-year Eleanor Van Buren poured in a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, which included a 4-of-4 performance from beyond the arc. Sophomore Lindsey Bernhardt matched her with 16 points of her own, while Christina Marquette added another double-double to her stat sheet with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Lillian Jahan got off to a quick start and finished with 11 points, while senior classmate Malisa Hoak added eight points and six assists.

Oberlin trailed 33-22 with just 5:07 left in the half, but used a 10-0 run that featured back-to-back triple hits from Van Buren and four straight points from Marquette to get within one. The Gators would push the lead back out to six, however, a 3-pointer from Bernhardt just before the buzzer made it 40-37 game at the intermission.

The Yeowomen were within striking distance at 52-50 with 13:04 left on the clock and would be within five, 61-56, following a Bernhardt layup at the 9:46 mark. Unfortunately, a 12-2 Gators' spurt over the next five minutes created too much of a margin for the Yeowomen to overcome as they would go six minutes without a field goal.

Makenzie Zidek led a group of five Gators in double figures as she scored 21 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting, including a 5-of-6 showing from 3-point land. Jessica Mrdjenovich added 16 points in the victory that moved the Gators to 13-9 overall and 7-6 in the NCAC.

Oberlin, which dropped to 8-14 and 3-10 in the NCAC, shot 47.5-percent (28-of-59) from the floor. The Gators checked in at 53.4-percent with 31 makes on 58 attempts.

The Yeowomen will look to get back on track they travel to Hiram College on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. tilt.