ALFRED, N.Y. - November 21, 2021 – Behind a dominant second-half performance, Hiram Terriers women's basketball wrapped up the Alfred Tip-Off Classic with a 67-44 win over the Alfred State Pioneers on Sunday at Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
For her efforts against Alfred and Alfred State,
Haley Thompson was named to the Alfred Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament team, tallying 25 points, 30 rebounds, four assists and three steals over the Terriers' two games played.
After almost two and a half minutes of scoreless play,
Selena Vargas got the Terriers on the scoreboard first with her layup with 7:46 to play in the first. Alfred State quickly tied the game on Emily Kelley's jumper, and from there, the two sides went back-and-forth, trading buckets midway through the first period.
But down 6-5 with 4:12 left in the quarter, Hiram held the Pioneers without a bucket the rest of the quarter, outscoring Alfred State 8-0 over the final four minutes of the first frame to take a 14-6 lead after one.
Hiram kept things rolling into the second quarter, extending their lead to 12 on
Taylor Valaitis' layup with 7:52 left in the first half, and out to 14 on
Madison Branch's jumper with 6:04 left in the second.
Up 22-8, Alfred State cut the Terriers' lead down to nine with just under two minutes remaining, before
Kelsie Gaiser's layup gave Hiram a 26-15 lead heading into the locker room.
The Pioneers made their run to start the third, cutting Hiram's lead down to seven, 28-21, on a pair of free throws by My'ana Davis at the 7:21 mark in the third.
Alex Lichner's three-pointer made it a 10-point game just a few minutes later, but the Pioneers again made their run.
Outscoring Hiram, 8-2, over the next two minutes, the Pioneers cut Hiram's lead down to four, 35-31 on Emily Kelley's layup with under four to play in the third, and again on Skylar Shaulis' three with 2:47 left.
But this time, Hiram answered with a huge run, outscoring Alfred State, 8-2, over the final two minutes of the third quarter to take a 46-36 lead into the fourth, and continuing their charge well into the fourth.
Hiram opened the final period with a 6-0 run, taking a 52-36 lead on Thompson's bucket with 8:19 to play, and outscored the Pioneers, 10-3 over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
In total, the Terriers outscored the Pioneers 21-8 in the fourth quarter, holding Alfred State to just 3-for-12 from the floor, to pull away with a 67-44 victory.
Hiram moves to 3-4 with the win, while Alfred State drops to 2-2 with the loss.
Thompson and Vargas each recorded a double-double to lead the Terriers, with Thompson tallying 20 points and 16 rebounds, both career-highs, while Vargas added 12 points and a career-high 18 boards.
As a team, the Terriers scored 19 points off 15 Pioneer turnovers, and added 21 second-chance points, outrebounding Alfred State, 54-31, including a 27-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
Following the holiday break, Hiram opens North Coast Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 1 when they host the Allegheny College Gators at 7 p.m. inside Price Gymnasium.
