Jordyn Pettit takes it up

Pioneers Battle Tough vs. Villa Maria

The Alfred State women's basketball team battled tough versus Villa Maria in a high scoring affair on Wednesday night. The Vikings held off the Pioneers 87-81 to improve to 22-2 on the season. 

Villa jumped out to an early 13-6 lead but the Pioneers battled back and retook the lead 17-15 with 2:34 remaining in the opening quarter. After the first ten minutes, the Vikings held the slight 23-21 lead. Jordyn Pettit (Wellsville) started off fast with nine points in the 1st quarter for the Pioneers while Armoni Jordan had eight for Villa.

Tied at 31-31 with just under four minutes to play in the 1st half, Villa went on a 10-0 run to grab their biggest lead in the 1st half. They went into the break with a 43-36 lead. Pettit added six more points and four boards while Bianca Brown led the Vikings with seven.

Alfred State came out of halftime hot and went on a 16-4 run to grab their biggest lead of the contest, 52-47, with 4:33 left in the 3rd quarter. The Vikings turned things around and took a 61-59 lead into the final ten minutes. Pettit scored another eight points while Emily Benes (Buffalo/Mount Mercy) and Rayanna Anderson (Wellsville) both had six. Tekia Gary led Villa with six.

The Vikings expanded on their lead with a 17-4 run to start the 4th quarter. The Pioneers didn't go away and cut the lead to down to four, 83-79, in the final minute but couldn't get any closer. Pettit scored eight more in the 4th while Emily Kelley (Andover) chipped in six. Leah McQuiller led Villa with six.

Pettit finished the night with 31 points (15 for 30) and 16 boards while Anderson recorded a triple-double with 14 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds. Kelley added nine points and 15 boards, Kelsey Shaulis (Ovid/South Seneca) had nine points and nine assists, and Benes chipped in eight points.

Alfred State was 34 for 94 from the field (36.2%), 6 for 18 from three (33.3%), and 7 for 14 (50%) from the foul line. The Pioneers held a 67 to 57 advantage on the boards including a 24 to 17 advantage on the offensive glass.

Jordan led the Vikings (22-2 and ranked #1 in the USCAA) with 16 points. Nina Cray added 15 points and 15 rebounds while Shaquana Owens finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Six Vikings finished in double-figures. Villa Maria was 32 for 91 (35.2%) from the field, 8 for 31 from three (25.8%), and 15 for 18 from the foul line (83.3%).

The Pioneers wrap up the regular season on Friday evening when they host Green Mountain College. Opening tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.