First round games of the AMCC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament tipped off Tuesday evening, with #3 D'Youville College and #4 Pitt-Greensburg each picking up victories on the night. #3 D'Youville earned the 79-69 victory over #6 Penn State Altoona, while #4 Pitt-Greensburg got a big win over #5 Penn State Behrend, winning 71-53. D'Youville and Penn State Altoona both advance to the AMCC semifinals, schedule to begin at 6:00 p.m. Friday night at La Roche University.
D'Youville 79, Penn State Altoona 69
The third-seeded D'Youville Spartans earned the ten point victory over Penn State Altoona Tuesday night to survive and advance to Friday night's semifinal round of the AMCC women's basketball championship.
D'Youville guard Sara Pfeiffer opened the scoring with a three-pointer and the Spartans maintained their lead throughout the first quarter. The Spartans led by as many as 13 when they took the 23-10 advantage with 2:34 to play in the quarter. However, the Lady Lions went on a 7-0 run to end the first at 23-17. Pfeiffer was hot to start the game, scoring 14 of her team's 23 points. The two teams exchanged baskets throughout the second quarter, with D'Youville's largest lead not getting beyond eight points. The Spartans took a 43-38 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The second half looked much like the first, as D'Youville started the third quarter out on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 11. The Spartans kept their comfortable lead, highlighted by Haley Kirisits' seven points on 3-for-4 shooting in the quarter, to enter the final frame with a 66-52 lead. Altoona outscored D'Youville in the fourth 17-13, but the Spartans were able to hang on for the 79-69 victory.
Pfeiffer led all scorers with 27 points, while Kirisits added 13 for the Spartans. Sara Wittek recorded a double-double with 12 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
With the win, #3 D'Youville will face #2 Hilbert College in the AMCC semifinals on Friday at 8:30 p.m. at top seed La Roche.
Pitt-Greensburg 71, Penn State Behrend 53
The fourth-seeded University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg women's basketball team secured a spot in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference semifinals with a 71-53 victory over fifth seeded Penn State Behrend on Tuesday night inside Chambers Hall.
Sidney McCully and Maddie Sitler led a balanced scoring attack for the Bobcats with 16 each. Nadege Durand corralled a game-best 18 rebounds and added 14 points. Maddy Coddington was 3-for-5 from three-point land on her way to 11 points on the night.
The Lions opened the contest by getting out to a 6-3 lead less than a minute and a half in. Pitt-Greensburg scored the next six points to take their first lead of the game. The teams were all square at 11 at the half way point of the first frame. Penn State Behrend broke the tie with an 8-0 run, but the Bobcats answered by holding the Lions scoreless for the final 2:34 of the first quarter while netting four points to make the score 19-15 after one quarter. After a big second quarter, the Bobcats held a 35-26 advantage at halftime. The Bobcats stayed ahead for the entirety of the second half. A 9-2 spurt got the edge up to 11 at the 2:43 mark of the third quarter. Pitt-Greensburg closed the game out on an 8-1 run, and kept Penn State Behrend to 1-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc in their final 12 attempts to clinch the semifinal spot.
The Bobcats outrebounded the Lions 47-37, the major difference coming on the offensive end where UPG pulled down 23 boards compared to 10 by Penn State Behrend.
Pitt-Greensburg advances to Friday's Semifinal contest, where they will face the top seed and host La Roche at 6 pm.