No. 1 La Roche University and No. 2 Hilbert College earned semifinal round victories to advance to the AMCC Women's Basketball Championship Game. The Redhawks defeated No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg, while Hilbert earned the W over No. 3 D'Youville College. The championship game is slated for Saturday, February 29 at 4:00 p.m. at La Roche's Kerr Fitness Center.
La Roche 60, Pitt-Greensburg 54
Top seeded La Roche University defeated No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg in the women's first semifinal game of the night to advance to Saturday's championship matchup. The Redhawks came out strong, taking a 17-3 lead after one quarter. Junior G Ayanna Mazyck and sophomore G Danajah Sanders each connected on two threes a piece to give La Roche 12 of their first quarter points. The Bobcats took control in the second quarter, outscoring La Roche 19-16. Pitt-Greensburg junior G/F Nadege Durand recorded seven points in the second frame while junior G Cat Gollihugh added five. La Roche took an 11-point, 33-22 lead, into the locker rooms at halftime.
Mazyck started the second half out with back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Redhawk lead to 17. Another Mazyck basket at the 4:12 mark of the third gave the Redhawks an 18-point advantage, their biggest lead of the night. Pitt-Greensburg held La Roche scoreless for the final four minutes of the quarter, while adding six points of their own, to cut the lead to 12 heading into the final frame. In the fourth, the Redhawks maintained their double digit lead until a Sidney McCully layup with 6:53 to play brought the Bobcats within nine. The two teams exchanged baskets until back-to-back Pitt-Greensburg three's by Durand and Gollihugh made it a five point game with 2:26 to go in the game. Pitt-Greensburg would get as close as four points with under a minute to play, but two Redhawk free throws Shaundrea Butler with :10 on the clock extended the lead back to six and set the final score.
Mazyck led all scorers with 24 points and tied a team-high with seven rebounds, while Sanders added 17 points and seven rebounds. Durand led the Bobcats with a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Hilbert 74, D'Youville 64
No. 2 Hilbert College picked up the semifnal victory over #3 D'Youville College to punch their ticket to the AMCC championship game tomorrow afternoon. Hilbert led 22-15 after one quarter, as Ashley Repine and Emily Gawlak each tallied six points for the Hawks in the opening frame. Hilbert wasted no time building on their lead as Gawlak opened the second quarter with a layup to extend the Hawk lead to nine. Danielle Hore and Elizabeth Bradley would add buckets for D'Youville before the Spartans would go almost three minutes without another basket. Hilbert G Taylor Corts scored six straight points for the Hawks to give them a 12 point lead, their biggest of the half, with 6:03 to play. Each team tallied three more baskets a piece in the final six minutes to set the halftime score at 37-27.
The Spartans were not ready for their season to end, as they came out of the locker room hot and evened the score after three. After two Hilbert free throws extended the lead to 12, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run to make the score 39-34. With six minutes to play in the third, the Spartans scored ten straight, with eight of those coming from freshman Sara Pfeiffer, giving the Spartans a 45-42 lead with 4:32 to go in the third. The lead exchanged hands three more times in the final four minutes of the quarter as the score remained deadlocked at 42 heading into the final quarter. Both teams exchanged baskets for the first four minutes of the fourth. A Hore layup with 6:37 to play gave D'Youville a 58-57 lead, which would be their last of the game. Two threes and a lay up over the next minute gave Hilbert a quick seven point lead. The Spartans closed within four with 2:33 on the clock before six straight Hawk points put Hilbert back up by ten. A layup by D'Youville's Haley Kirisits and two free throws by Hilbert's Macy Kisner would set the final at 74-64.
Kisner led Hilbert with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. Corts and Gawlak added 16 and 14, respectively, while Ashley Schroder chipped in with 13.
Hore led all scorers with 23 points and tied for a team high with six rebounds.