By Maggie Samole / Staff writer

The visiting team was victorious both times the UPG women’s basketball team has faced Pitt-Bradford during the regular season. Unfortunately for the Lady Bobcats, that trend continued Tuesday night as the Lady Panthers dealt them a 56-54 playoff loss that ended their season.

The loss ended a five-year streak in which the team advanced to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championship game.

UPG built a nine-point lead early, but Pitt-Bradford regrouped and went on a 12-3 run to take the lead midway through the first half. It was a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

The Lady Bobcats remained close and came within one point of tying the game at 17:01 of the second half on two Nicole Reiser foul shots. But that was as close as they would get. The Lady Panthers’ defense and foul shooting iced the game down the stretch as they earned the upset.

Assistant UPG coach Kevin Conlon said the team played a sloppy game.

“We weren’t crisp with our passes and the offense struggled,” Conlon said. “We could have beaten them.”

The Lady Bobcats are usually potent from three-point range, but had only two three-point field goals on the night. Conlon attributed this statistic to Pitt-Bradford’s stifling defense.

“They played a tough man-to-man defense,” Conlon said. “We didn’t do a good job getting around screens … and sort of stood around, hoping for an open shot. Then, when we’d get one, we’d miss it.”

The Lady Bobcats’ leading scorer, junior Tiffany Menhorn, was in foul trouble early and found herself on the bench. Despite only playing 18 minutes, Menhorn still managed to score nine points before fouling out with two and a half minutes remaining.

Conlon said it was hard for Menhorn to play her game because of the early fouls.

“When she got her second foul and had to sit the bench, the offense stalled,” Conlon said. “It’s tough to come back and regain your confidence after you’ve been sitting for a while, and that’s what happened to Tiffany … it took away her style.”

Freshman forward Kelsey Wilcox lead the team with 29 points and 15 rebounds, both game highs.

With the team having eleven underclassmen, Conlon isn’t sure if their early exit has made any sort of impression on them.

“I don’t think the freshmen understand the magnitude of the loss,” Conlon said. “This is the first time in five or six years that the team hasn’t gone on to a postseason tournament. Only a few of them have even experienced it, so the younger girls don’t know the importance of bringing their A game.”

The Lady Bobcats end their season with a 14-12 overall record. They will now await the announcement of the AMCC all-conference teams.