#1 La Roche University and #3 Pitt-Greensburg each earned semifinal victories to advance to the AMCC Women's Basketball Championship Game tomorrow at 3:00pm. The Redhawks defeated the Pioneers 82-57, while the Bobcats earned a thrilling 80-78 victory over the Lions.
La Roche 82, Alfred State 57
The first quarter stayed tight, as each time La Roche would begin to extend their lead, Alfred State would hit another bucket to keep the score close. The quarter ended with the Redhawks ahead 22-19, with La Roche's Ayanna Mazyck hitting 3-of-6 shots for seven points. La Roche came out hot in the second quarter, taking a quick 30-21 lead two minutes into the quarter, with Mazyck picking up four more points in that span. A La Roche rebound and put-back with 5:21 to play in the first half gave the Redhawks their first double-digit lead, as they went ahead 36-25. The Redhawks continued to break the lead wide open in the final five minutes of the half, as the Redhawks went on a 9-2 in the final five minutes to take a 45-27 into the locker rooms at halftime. La Roche didn't back down in the third quarter, as they started the second half on a 10-0 run before a pair of free throws by Alfred State's Maisy Booth put the Pioneers on the board in the third. The Redhawks outscored the Pioneers 22-17 in the third quarter to hold on to the 67-44 lead heading into the final frame. La Roche edged the Pioneers 15-13 in the final quarter to take home the 82-57 victory. Ayanna Mazyck led all scorers with 19 points, while Makayla Abram 18 points and nine rebounds. Alfred State's My'ana Davis led the Pioneers with 16 points.
Penn State Behrend started the game off with a quick 8-2 lead, highlighted by six points from Kara Haslett. A Pitt-Greensburg jumper by Nadege Durand and a three-pointer by Sidney McCully brought the Bobcats right back into the game to make sure score 8-7. A Shaquoia McCray layup with 4:49 to play gave the Bobcats their first lead of the game, as they went up 9-8. The game stayed tight the rest of the quarter, as the Bobcats stayed on top 17-15 after one. Pitt-Greensburg held onto their lead for the entire second quarter, taking their biggest lead of the half on a Maddie Sitler layup with 6:09 to play to put the Bobcats up 30-19. A Haslett three with 4:07 to play brought the Lions within two, but the Bobcats continued to pull away as they took a 39-31 lead into the locker rooms. Behrend came out in the second half not ready to go home, as Caitlin Carnuche started the third quarter off with a three, followed by an Alanna Dibble layup and another three by Rachel Majewski to knot the game at 39 at the 8:17 mark of the third. Both teams continued to fight as the third quarter saw multiple lead changes as Behrend outscored Pitt-Greensburg 32-23 in the third to take the 63-62 lead heading into the final quarter. The Lions started out the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 69-62 with 7:10 left to play. After two Bobcat free throws and a three by Sitler, Pitt-Greensburg pulled within three (69-66) with 6:29 to play. Seven straight points by Behrend put the Lions up by 10 with just over five minutes to go in the game. Behrend continued to hold the lead for the majority of the final quarter, until the Bobcats turned up the heat in the final minute of the game. Behrend held a seven point lead with 1:36 to play before two Sitler free throws and a McCray layup brought UPG within three points with 0:35 seconds to play. A steal by McCray and a layup by Maietta put them within one with :26 to go. A three-pointer by Maietta with just a few ticks on the clock gave the Bobcats the 80-78 victory and punched their ticket to the AMCC championship game.