Lady Owls Upset by Allegany 74-68 in the MDJUCO Tournament Semifinals

By Jeffrey Eaton and Adam Long

The basketball game started off slowly for the Lady Owls as they struggled to get a shot attempt to fall against the 2-3 zone defense used by the Allegany College of Maryland Trojans. The Owls tried to come out with a quick start against Allegany with their own pressure defense and a potent offense, but it didn’t work out that way. The Owls quickly found themselves down 10-0 after four minutes of play in the semifinal game of the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference on February 20.

Poor shooting plagued the Owls and continued for the entire half as the PGCC athletes only managed to make two field goals; however, they went 12-13 from the free throw line. Allegany also turned the ball over 16 times in the first half. The Owls were able to get the lead down to one point in the first half, but Allegany went on a 5-0 run to create some separation making the score 22-28 at half time.

During the second half, the Owls started off hot by hitting two three pointers and were able to tie the game early on. The Owls even got a 43-39 lead, but it did not last very long as Allegany went on a 9-0 run in three minutes by breaking The Owls’ full court press defense with relative ease. The Owls did not help themselves out after the run, as the offense burned out and seemed to settle for back and forth passing on the wing. The contest ended with The Owls falling 74-68.

The Owls failed to ride the momentum of a 72-38 win in the Quarterfinals of the MDJUCO Championship tournament over the 7th-seeded Montgomery-Rockville Knights. Several PGCC players were in double figures in that blowout.