Point Park rolls past IU Kokomo, 101-72, surpasses last year's RSC win total

PITTSBURGH -- Point Park University women's basketball rolled to a 101-72 victory over visiting Indiana University Kokomo on Saturday leading from start to finish. The Pioneers (15-4, 8-2 RSC) won for the 11th time in their last 12 games and also surpassed last year's conference win total. 

Point Park is now 8-2 in the River States Conference. The Pioneers were 11-16 overall and 7-10 RSC a year ago, their first season under head coach Dave Scarborough. Point Park has powered past that mark this year and is 11-1 since Dec. 1. 

Alexis Giles scored a career-high 26 points to lead Saturday's effort over IU Kokomo. The sophomore guard from Youngstown, Ohio, made 7 of 9 3-pointers on the day to flirt with the Point Park single-game record of nine held by Michelle Burns. 

Giles already had 18 points in the first half -- just one off her previous career high from last year -- and she had made 5 of 7 treys by halftime. 

The Pioneers put all five starters in double figures and also had scoring up and down the entire lineup. Point Park had 12 players see action with 11 of them scoring.

Gillian Piccolino and Ari Bleda both had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Bleda threw in six steals as well. Gabriella Legister had 13 points and seven rebounds while Emma Pavelek had 12 points, a pair of 3-pointers and four assists. 

Point Park's bench totaled 24 points and 19 rebounds on the day. Coral Homs led that pace with eigtht points and five boards. Janiah Tillman chipped in five points and five rebounds, Aichata Ballo had five points, four steals and three assists, Fatim Sarr Ndow had four points, four rebounds and four steals and Isabella Pelaia grabbed five rebounds. 

It was all Point Park from the start with the Pioneers all over the Cougars. After a steal and fast-break layup by Bleda and then an early trey by Giles, Point Park was ahead 10-2 with barely two minutes gone. 

Giles stayed on fire hitting a pair of treys and getting a steal and transition layup in between to make the score 20-4 after five minutes. Point Park was later up 28-8 having forced 10 turnovers by that point. 

The defense and offense continued to churn for the Pioneers leading to a 40-19 lead in the second quarter. That was after a basket and a foul shot by Legister. Point Park was up 59-38 at halftime forcing 15 turnovers, making 12 steals and shooting 52 percent from the field the first 20 minutes.

Point Park pushed the lead to 74-44 in the third quarter with Giles connecting from deep and then Piccolino going in for a transition layup after a steal. The Pioneers were ahead by as many as 34 points late in the third quarter and took an 81-54 lead into the fourth.

The Pioneers had two road games coming up next week. Point Park first goes to Ohio Christian for a Tuesday-night matchup followed by a road trip to WVU Tech on Saturday. All remaining games are within the RSC East Division. Point Park went 6-1 versus the RSC West with the IU Kokomo game being the last matchup with that division for the year.