ERIE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College women's basketball team punched its ticket to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship title game with a 52-40 victory over McDaniel College on Sunday afternoon.

Allegheny (20-8) will now face William Paterson University (21-8) in the tournament finals on Saturday, March 15. More details about the game will be announced in the coming days.

The Gators, seeded third in their tournament pod, took down top-seeded McDaniel (18-10) with an outstanding third quarter. Allegheny led by only two points at halftime, 22-20, but outscored the Green Terror 17-9 in the third quarter. McDaniel scored the first field goal of the second half to tie the score at 22-all briefly, but the Gators never surrendered the lead after Bella Antonacci (Indiana, Pa./Indiana Area) sank a 3-pointer around the eight-minute mark of the third quarter.

Leading 29-26, fellow first-year Ava Kobus (Pittsburgh, Pa./Norwin) capped off a 7-0 Allegheny run that pushed the lead to double digits for the first time at 36-26. Kobus scored five unanswered points, including a successful and-one conversion. In the fourth quarter, Antonacci and Kobus combined for seven consecutive points, giving the Gators their largest lead of the afternoon at 48-32. 

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny shot 42.3% overall (22-of-52), compared to a mere 26.2% clip (17–of-65) by McDaniel.
• The Gators outperformed the Green Terror on the glass with a 46-to-34 advantage in rebounds.
• Points in the paint heavily favored Allegheny, 34-to-14.
• Three Gators reached double figures, led by Antonacci, who logged game-highs in points (15), rebounds (16), and assists (6).
• Kobus provided 13 points off the bench.
• Emily Lauer (Knox, Pa./Keystone) poured in 12 points.
• Jess Bickart (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) hauled in eight rebounds to go along with four points, two assists, and one steal.
• Elaina Beckett and Teya McConnaha paced McDaniel with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

News and Notes

• Allegheny has advanced to the championship game in its first-ever ECAC tournament appearance.
• Allegheny notched its 20th win on Sunday, the most in a season since the Gators went 20-6 in 2000-01.
• Sunday's matchup against McDaniel was the first-ever in program history.
• 40 points are the fewest allowed by the Gators in a game since Allegheny beat the College of Wooster, 57-34, on February 8, 2022.
• It marks only the second time in the last decade the Gators held an opponent to 40 points or less, excluding the COVID-effected 2021 exhibition season.
• Antonacci posted her fifth double-double of the year, and her 16 rebounds are a career-best.
• Lauer has made 20 consecutive free throws dating back to the team's win at Franciscan University on February 8.

Up Next
Allegheny will face William Paterson, the top-seeded team from its tournament pod, in the ECAC Division III Championship title game on Saturday, March 15. The Pioneers defeated Baruch College, 81-63, and Hunter College, 88-36, in their half of the bracket. More information about the ECAC championship game will be announced in the near future.