It was a tale of two halves for Allen Community College’s women Wednesday night.
In the first half, the Red Devils limited visiting Neosho County Community College to only 2 of 7 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
But the Panthers found their shooting touch in a big way after the break, hitting 6 of 10 3-pointers, and turning a nine-point deficit into a 64-57 victory.
The defeat snaps a modest two-game winning streak for Allen and keeps the Red Devils tied with Coffeyville in third place in the Region VI Eastern Division play at 6-7. Allen, 13-12 overall, travels to Coffeyville Saturday.
Doing most of the damage for the visiting Panthers was Neosho County’s Dena English, who hit 5 of 6 3-point attempts in the second half.
Her first trey of the half sliced into what had been a 42-33 Allen lead with just under 11 minutes left in the game.
She connected twice more from downtown during the Panthers’ ensuing 17-6 run, including one with 5:12 showing on the clock, putting Neosho County on top 50-48.
Allen retook the lead on two free throws each by Miracle Davis and Leslie Ware, before the Panthers’ Alexis Hafenstein hit a 3-pointer to put Neosho County on top 54-52. English connected on two final 3-point attempts about a minute apart to push the Panthers up 60-52 with 2:25 left.
DaNara Day went 2-for-2 from the free throw line, then Ware hit one of two charities, but the Red Devils got no closer than five points down the stretch.
The Red Devils led by as many as seven in the early going. Ware’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes left in the first half gave the Red Devils a 22-15 lead. Neosho County crept back to within two before Allen took a 24-20 lead into halftime.
Day opened the second half by scoring Allen’s first 10 points. Her free throw with 15:33 left in the game gave the Red Devils a 34-29 lead.
Ware picked up the scoring baton from there, scoring the Red Devils’ next eight points, including a basket to cap a 9-2 run and put Allen ahead 42-33.
Day led Allen with 21 points, including 11-for-11 from the line. Ware followed with 14. Kayla Morton pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Davis handed out three assists.
English poured in 18 points, all from 3-point range, to lead Noesho County (9-16 overall; 5-8 in Region VI play). Hafenstein scored 15.
Neosho Co. (20-44—64)
Allen (24-33—57)
Neosho Co. (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Sheppard 1-2-2-4, Palmer 0-4-4-4, English 0/6-0-2-18, Grant 2-5-4-9, McMillan 1-0-2-2, A. Gorman 2-1-2-5, Carroll 0-1-1-1, Randle 0-0-1-0, Hafenstein 3/2-3-1-15, Gorman 3-0-2-6. TOTALS: 12/8-16-21-64.
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Jones 1-0-1-2, Davis 2-2-4-6, Morton 0-0-1-0, Day 2/2-11-4-21, Redmond 0/1-0-0-3, Peel 0/1-0-2-3, Taiclet 1-2-1-4, Ware 3/1-4-3-14, Seward 0-0-1-0, Blackwell 0-2-5-2, Hall 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 10/5-22-23-57.
Panthers shoot down ACC women
